


Best-Laid Plans

by basicallyiwriteshit



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: AU, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Attempted Murder, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Happy Ending, Kidnapping, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overthrowing the government, Running Away, Secrets, Suspicion, TAZ Balance, The Adventure Zone Balance - Freeform, attempted assasination, characters tagged in order of appearance except for minor characers, everything will make sense later i promise, prince taako
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 40,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21543058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basicallyiwriteshit/pseuds/basicallyiwriteshit
Summary: Prince Taako of Neverwinter is having a hell of a week.First, he's kissed by a handsome stranger at a birthday ball he didn't even want. Then, a woman who looked exactly like him --only able to introduce herself as Lup before she's captured by guards-- almost kills him. And if that isn't enough, some kid comes up to him and tries to convince him to rethink his loyalties to his king and to Lucretia, his royal adviser who won't answer any of his questions.It's looking more and more like he's going to have to take matters into his own hands.
Comments: 69
Kudos: 90





	1. Chapter 1

Prince Taako of Neverwinter is –  _ well  _ – not  _ really  _ a prince. 

He’s no fraud, of course, he’s been  _ appointed  _ his nobility. But “prince” is much less awkward and far more regal than “ward,” and Taako didn’t argue when the palace staff started calling him that. 

He doesn’t mind– it’s a title he likes, though the rules that come with being royal aren’t all that favorable to him. He’s always being told what to do, where to go, what meetings to attend (which, luckily, isn’t many since he’s not the immediate heir to the throne), etc. It’s all so  _ boring _ . 

Taako still isn’t all that used to it, even after a year and a half in the palace. 

He can’t remember much of his life before he was taken in by the king, only that it wasn’t very fun. 

He remembers being on caravans. Cooking for them, doing odd jobs to get some coin. Sometimes he was with a group of mercenaries, sometimes thieves; Taako isn’t picky. As long as he has somewhere with a roof over his head. He even started a cooking show, at some point– This half elf, Sazed, had an intriguing pitch and a cart ready to go for a travelling act. Just needed a cook to fill the slot. It was a cushy gig and Taako earned more money in his first show than he did in his years running around from caravan to caravan. So he stays. And he and Sazed get pretty close. 

The show was  _ his _ , though, and the fact that Sazed kept trying to encroach on his image was unnerving. It was no surprise that his partner tried to poison him, but it’s still terrifying nonetheless. So he went back to live on the road, deciding the fame just wasn’t for him. At the time, he was…45? 55? It’s hard to remember. 

That’s when he met a knight from the Neverwinter court, who asked for him by name, and he’d been immediately on guard. Lied his ass off, until he realized that the knight wasn’t falling for it at all. 

-

_ Taako’s on his own tonight, the caravan he’d been on having left without telling him, and so he’s settled into an inn for the night. He’s having dinner at the inn’s dining room when the room goes silent. He lifts his head up from his (subpar) stew and sees a knight standing in the doorway, eyes searching the room before they find Taako and they rush over to him. Taako’s heart stops, his eyes searching for an escape; he doesn’t know what he’s done to gain the attention of the royal family, but this can’t be good.  _

_ “Hail and well met, friend! Are you Taako? The elf from Sizzle it Up?”  _

_ “Uh…no? I get that a lot, though, uh--” Taako’s hand reaches discretely for his wand, but this guy is huge and has a fucking sword so like if this goes south he’s fuuuucked. “Nope, I heard that guy actually died, maybe, so--”  _

_ “I know it may look it, pal, but I’m not stupid. You aren’t in trouble. The king has sent me to collect you ‘cause he has a proposition for you.”  _

_ “Me?” Taako raises an eyebrow, his hand dropping from his wand. “I’m just a simple idiot wizard, bubbula, I’m not gonna be able to, like, raise the dead or anything for ‘im.”  _

_ “Oh, no, nothing like that! I don’t think. I dunno. Uh--” The knight pulls out a roll of parchment from somewhere and hands it to Taako, who takes it hesitantly. “The king would love to see you as soon as possible. I know it’s late, so I can come back in the morning to escort you to the castle myself if you don’t want to go tonight.”  _

_ Taako reads over the parchment, sees a summons from the king, and it looks legit. He sighs, standing from the table. “Nah, I’ll head over now I guess, get this over with. Is this going to be a long thing, or can I leave my stuff here?”  _

_ “I’d, uh...I’d bring it with.” The knight says, and Taako wants to run. This is, like, 100% a getting-arrested thing and he has no idea what he did for that to be the case. He would run, but the knight follows him to his room after giving the innkeep a sack of gold and he’s really not gonna shake this guy, is he?  _

_ - _

Surprisingly, he wasn’t in trouble, though.

An older woman who he would come to know familiarly as Lucretia (though she doesn’t like to be called that at all), head of the royal advisers, introduces him to a stoic-looking king Davenport of Neverwinter (who doesn’t speak, which is creepy as shit). He’s offered to be taken in as a ward of the court, as the king had heard of his misfortune with Sizzle it Up With Taako and had loved his show. The entire situation is really fucking weird, but he’s being offered free room and board so he won’t argue the semantics of it. 

The knight-slash-palace-guard who originally came to find him, Magnus, becomes one of Taako’s closer friends in the palace. Or, rather, they find each other often out of pure luck. Magnus actively looks for reasons to hang out in the kitchens to watch his girlfriend instead of doing his duties, and Taako likes to spend time in the kitchen. Magnus isn’t that bad of a guy– funny, and far too kind for his own good, and Taako’s able to use “body guard” as an excuse to hang out with him. Even though he technically doesn’t need one within the confines of the castle, only when he goes outside, Lucretia seems to not mind the idea much. They often get into quite a bit of trouble in one way or the other, which Lucretia doesn’t seem to like much, but you win some you lose some, right? 

They find themselves getting in such trouble one day, after Ren’s kicked them out of the kitchen. 

Taako decides he needs some potions ingredients, so they wander into the gardens to get some, though Taako doesn’t technically know if he’s allowed to take the herbs and flowers he needs. They do their best to sneak around head gardener, Merle, who’s out on his daily rounds watering the plants; the dwarf isn’t bad, just weird. They’re cordial, if a bit jokey, within the castle walls at dinner and such but Merle takes his job as gardener very seriously. And the way he talks to the plants is a bit creepy, but he doesn’t like to think about that-- so they tend to sneak around the gardens when they know he’s out tending the grounds. Their luck runs out towards the end of their little venture, however, and Magnus easily distracts Merle while Taako tucks the items gathered into his satchel. He’s able to easily fit himself into the conversation so as not to seem suspicious, and gives Magnus a thumbs up behind his back to signal that they can leave. 

As they’re leaving, though, Merle’s gruff voice calls over to them, “Just so y’know, your majesty, don’t seem very princely to steal. Next time just ask. You cut the parsley too short!” 

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, old man!!” 

Magnus and Taako stay stoic until they’re out of sight, giggling like schoolgirls. Their laughter is cut off only by a stern cough from Lucretia, and they both freeze. Magnus goes stiff and stands at attention, and Lucretia just shakes her head and waves him off; immediately, he relaxes and tries to explain himself. 

“Uh–” 

“We were–” 

“We were just– We weren’t doing anything  _ bad _ –” 

“I already know you two were tormenting Merle again. I’ve just come to retrieve prince Taako, as it seems he’s forgotten that he has a meeting with the royal advisers today.” Lucretia does her best to keep her face neutral, but a small fond smile tugs on her lips. “You can get back to hanging out with Julia until they start making dinner in the kitchens, Magnus. Thank you for watching prince Taako for me.” 

With a wink at Magnus, Lucretia places a hand on Taako’s back – which he immediately arches away from, no touching Taako, thank you very much – and leads him back inside and down a few hallways until they’re at the usual meeting of the royal advisers. Taako’s always hated these meetings, as they’re dreadfully boring, and it seems like everyone else does as well. King Davenport must find them lame too, because the guy is never at them. Lucretia insists she fills him in on everything that happens, but Taako has his doubts that the guy is even real. They’d only met once, after all, and Lucretia did all the talking then. 

“It won’t be a long one today, everyone, promise. We just need to talk about prince Taako’s upcoming birthday and then we can go.” Lucretia says, and there’s a resounding groan. Birthdays among royalty are known to be a big nuisance, as everyone insists on having big parties and week-long celebrations. 

Flashy as all hell, and very Taako-like in so many ways, at least what everyone thinks, which is why it’s such a surprise for them all to hear–

“Yeahhh, I’m not really down for any big celebrations. And how did you guys even learn my fucking birthday? I don’t think I told anyone.” 

“…You don’t want to celebrate your birthday, your majesty?” 

Taako leans back in his chair, skirt riding up enough for Lucretia to smooth it back down with a grimace, which makes him grin; he loves acting not-royal, the informality really seems to annoy Lucretia and it’s fun to tease her. “Yeah, uh– I mean, a party seems  _ cool _ , but I’ve been to other celebrations and stuff for other royals and it seems like a loooot of work– and it’s not like it’s a  _ big  _ birthday, anyways. I’m only turning, like, forty-se– fifty-som– It’s not a big one. But if I’ve gotta do  _ something _ , I’m chill with, like, a big ball on my birthday and that being iiiit if that’s cool with you lot.” 

Wide, amazed eyes – though none bigger than Lucretia’s – all look at him before there’s quick nods, clearing of throats, and shuffling of papers. Quiet  _ “no, yeah, totally,” _ s fill the room. Lucretia gives a forced smile once the shock wears off. She dismisses the meeting and everyone stands to leave, but Taako is held back just a moment. 

“I can’t say I expected that from you, prince Taako, I- I thought that you would like the fanfare of it all. A parade, something…But I suppose you can still surprise me, even– even…though you have such a predictable personality sometimes.” Lucretia catches herself mid-sentence, and Taako thinks maybe she was going to say something not very royal-adviser-y. He tells her all the time she’s too serious but she seems to like the dramatics of being head royal adviser, “Madame Director” of castle activities and logistics and all that. 

Taako shrugs. “Yeah, well. I meant it when I said it sounded like a lot of work. Taako ain’t meant to be so formal all the time, and I don’t feel like meeting a million people and talking politics. This way I still get to party but it isn’t so formal.” 

“Yeah, that’s a lot like you, huh?” Lucretia smiles that fond look she has on her face so often again, like she’s raised the prince from a young age instead of busted his ass for almost two years about his manners. “I’ll let you go on.”

Taako just gives a two-finger salute and saunters out, finds Killian out in the hall waiting. 

“So you really don’t want a big celebration, huh? No parade, no festival. Always took you for the type ‘a guy to wanna go all out.” 

Taako groans. “Man, if I knew you were all gonna grill me about it I should’ve just said hell yeah to a big party!” 

“Please don’t say that in front of Madame Director, I know for a fact she’ll make us do just that if you do.” Killian sounds tired, probably having not recovered from their last party a few months back for the king’s birthday. Taako chuckles.

“Seriously still don’t know how you all figured out my birthday. I was able to avoid the whole party thing last year just fine.” 

“I dunno, I just help run the palace guard. Madame Director knows everything, though.” Killian says. “You sure you aren’t like a clone of the real prince? I would’ve thought Taako’d want a parade.” 

“Yeah, quit worrying about that one it’s still cha’ boy. I just don’t really like birthdays, is all– haven’t had one that’s felt right in a while, is all. Always feels weird.” 

Killian looks down at Taako with a frown, and he suddenly feels like maybe he overshared and curses internally. He keeps his face neutral as she says, “Your majesty, birthdays are just… _ birthdays _ . A day to celebrate  _ you _ ! How do they feel weird?” 

“Ah, I dunno how to explain it. Just ain’t right.” Taako shrugs. He looks for something to change the subject, can’t find anything, and decides to escape. “Oh well. Maybe next year. This year I just want something quiet.” 

-

For royal standards, his party  _ is _ quiet. Compared to what Taako’s experienced in his own life prior, it’s– It’s fucking loud. 

As much as he’d fought to get it to be a masquerade, so he could flit around and no one would know it’s him, it’s not. Taako’s dressed in one of his fancy suits, desperately trying to avoid political talk– which would’ve been so much easier if he got to wear a mask, but Lucretia called it a  _ “security risk.”  _ His avoidance plan is only half working, seeing as after he makes it clear he doesn’t know nor care about politics (much to Lucretia’s chagrin), the younger politicians seem to leave him alone. The older ones don’t seem to understand that he doesn’t want to talk politics, however, and that combined with the small string quartet headed by Johann in the corner playing a set that sounds familiar yet unidentifiable, adds onto his steadily growing headache. 

At some point in the night, Taako slips away from the supervision of the many guards making sure no one tries to kill him tonight and outside into the gardens. It’s much quieter out here, and he closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. It’s seriously  _ weird _ – no matter how many times he gets wished a joyous birthday or some shit, he can’t seem to shake the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. When he opens his eyes again, he lets them trail over the vast expanse of the gardens. Taako’s rarely allowed out here at night, let alone without a guard, and now he knows why. With all of the shrubbery, anyone can jump out at him, and it’s kinda creeping him out. He’s about to turn back when he sees someone wandering about a little farther into the gardens and–

“ _ Hatchi Matchi. _ ” 

There’s a handsome, like positively  _ gorgeous _ , man walking around the gardens– occasionally reaching up and fiddling with the leaves in the trees or flower petals. A pair of large wire-framed glasses reflect the dim lamp lighting sprinkled around the gardens, and that only adds to the charm. 

Fuck, he’s cute. 

“He– Hey, thug! What’s your name?” He calls, and the stranger jumps, swirling around to look at him. His eyes are wide under the lenses of those too-big glasses as he tries to make out who’s talking to him. Taako pushes up from the wall with a grin, and saunters over to him. Tonight seems to have gotten a lot more interesting. “What’s got you wandering around all on your lonesome?” 

The stranger still looks a bit startled, but he’s much more composed now that he knows Taako’s not a guard coming to yell at him or something. He’s also much more handsome up close, under the mixture of moon and lamp light. He looks to be human, though he’s dressed in a similarly dramatic fashion as the many elves at the ball– black cloak over a dressy pinstripe suit, with a handful of pink opal brooches on the lapel of his suit jacket. Taako leans against one of the street lamps, smiling at him. The stranger gives a flustered smile back, the warm light complimenting his darker skin tone rather nicely. 

“It’s just a bit loud in there, came out to take a break before I got too overwhelmed. You too?” 

And even though that’s exactly why Taako is out here, he’s not gonna just  _ say _ that. “Yeah, no. I don’t  _ do  _ overwhelmed.” 

The stranger quirks an eyebrow, smiling at him. He offers a hand to shake, and Taako takes it gingerly, letting him do the shaking. This stranger doesn’t seem to know who he is, and it’s nice to not be treated like the prince for once. “Well, I hope you don’t mind sharing the quiet with me. I’ll be out of your hair in a few.” 

“Oh, it’s no big. Serious, though, what’s your name handsome?” 

“Kravitz.” He smiles sheepishly at Taako, and it’s seriously so dorky and cute Taako  _ can’t deal _ . “Uh– You wanna sit down?” 

He gestures to a nearby bench, smiling softly at him, and Taako nods pushing off of the lamp post and moving over to the bench. Kravitz sits a respectable distance away, how chivalrous, and Taako takes a moment to just…relax. Even though the party is rather tame, it’s still been a long night. He takes a deep breath, eyes closed, and he can hear Kravitz doing the same beside him. 

“I’m not much for parties. My mother forced me to come tonight.” 

Any other royal may be insulted, but Taako gets it. He hates these parties too, though mainly because he just doesn’t like putting up with some of the other royals. There’s this twin duo from another kingdom that just rub him the wrong way This Kravitz guy is alright, so far, but that’s probably only just because he has him alone; far too many times has Taako seen a different side of someone in private than they present in public. Honestly, he doesn’t get it. Doesn’t it get tiring? I mean– yeah, Taako dresses wild and does his makeup and acts up all day, but that’s just for the  _ added flare _ , not the drama. 

“Yeah, I get that. I like the pizzazz that comes with these things, but all the talk is so boring. They don’t even have any fun music! Johann is killing it, of course, but the rest of the strings are really sucky.” 

“I can agree with that,” Kravitz says with a smile. “They’re playing some good stuff on occasion, but I don’t know how much I like their style. Too new. I don’t think I recognize any of the compositions.” 

“Oh, music snob, are we?” Taako teases, laughing brightly at how flustered his passing comment seems to make Kravitz. “I can appreciate that. A guy with class.” 

“Yeah?” 

Taako smiles as a slow song drifts out of the windows of the castle. He stands, and offers Kravitz his hand. “Hey, this one’s not bad. Dance with me, handsome?” 

“O- Oh, alright. Yeah, sure. As long as I get to lead.” 

“I suppose just this once,” 

Kravitz stands and takes Taako’s hand with a low laugh that sends shivers down Taako’s spine, pulling him in. 

They dance for a few songs, talking and laughing, and it’s probably the most fun Taako’s had all night. Kravitz is a great guy, and he’s got a cute smile, and–

“You having any fun now?” Kravitz asks, smiling, as they plop back onto the bench. Taako grins and winks at him. 

“I mean, with you? Yeah, dude. Much better than dodging guards all night.” 

Kravitz raises an eyebrow. “Why would you need to dodge the guards?” 

“Uh…’cause I’m Taako? From TV?” 

Kravitz’s eyes widen in surprise when he learns he’s been speaking to the prince he’s supposed to be celebrating and he rushes to stand up and bow– only then does Taako realize his mistake. “Y- Your majesty! I didn’t recognize you, my apologies.”

“Yeah, you don’t need to do any of that bowing stuff, even though it’s much appreciated.” Taako says. He pretends to check his nails, instead of what he’s actually doing which is checking out Kravitz’ ass.

“I’m  _ so _ sorry I didn’t recognize you, Prince Taako.” 

“Oh, it’s no big, boss. Came out here to avoid that shit.” Taako says. Kravitz seems to still be a bit flustered, and it’s a good look on him. “I should probably ask if  _ you’re  _ anyone I should bow to, though we’re a little past that now.” 

He’s dressed too fancy to just be some townsfolk that got into the ball, but the name Kravitz doesn’t sound familiar. 

“Oh, no, not me. I’m a member of the–” Something dings in Kravitz’ suit jacket pocket, and he groans. “Sorry. My mother must be looking for me.” 

“You go back inside, handsome, I’m gonna stay out here a few more.” 

Kravitz hits decline on his stone of farspeech and smiles at Taako. “I promise I won’t tell anyone you’re out here.” 

“Perfect. I owe you a drink for that, man. Here, gimme that.” He takes Kravitz’s stone of farspeech and syncs up their signals before handing it back with a wink. “There. Call me some time, stud.” 

“I– I, uh– O- Okay…” Kravitz stutters out, taking the stone with a flustered smile. He looks as if he’s contemplating something before he leans down and connects their lips, surprising Taako some but he isn’t opposed and even kissed back. When they pull apart, he can see a slight flush on Kravitz’ cheeks. “Goodbye, prince Taako.” 

“…Right…Bye…” Taako watches Kravitz leave, raising a hand to gently brush against his lips. Yeah, he’s definitely calling him– Kravitz may be attractive, but he’s a terrible kisser. He’ll need lessons. 

Taako leans back against the backrest of the bench, breathing in the fresh air for a few minutes before he goes back inside. 

Almost immediately upon entering the ballroom, Lucretia and Magnus are at his side, Lucretia scolding him for managing to sneak out on them. He manages to get her to allow him to walk around without a guard at his side as long as he stays inside the ballroom, give Magnus a break. 

He walks around for a good half an hour; picking fun at the castle’s scientific adviser Lucas, making faces at Magnus across the ballroom while the guard dances with Julia, and sticking close to the bar (alcohol makes everything better, and Taako had insisted on there being a lot of it). The night is nearing a close, now, thankfully, and so there’s only about twenty people in the ballroom when he sees a ploom of dirty blonde curls that looks  _ so  _ familiar it catches his full attention. It takes him a moment to register the person connected to the curls, because he could’ve sworn he was looking into a mirror if it weren’t for the bright red robe draped over a sparkly red dress. 

The woman looks just like him, and she looks near tears when they make eye contact. She melts and starts towards him, reaching out, and opens her mouth to speak. Taako stands frozen as her voice –warm and soft, so so familiar– meets his ears. 

“Ta– Taako, thank the gods, Barry and I have been looking for you everywhere. Are you– are you a part of what Lucretia did with–” 

A force field wraps itself around Taako almost violently and Taako whips his head around, confused, to see Lucretia’s the one holding it up. She’s shouting orders, but he can’t quite hear her since she’s so far away and the bubble muffles quite a bit of sound. He assumes she’s calling the guards because almost immediately Magnus, Carey, and Killian are rushing the strange woman. Despite him not being able to hear well, he can hear the woman clear as day, panic filling her voice as she tries to dodge the guards lunging at her. 

“Taako, what the hell? Taako, call them off. Call them off, Taako, it- It’s  _ Lup _ , your– Wha– Magnus– Ma– Maggie, what the fuck?! Put me down!” The woman,  _ Lup _ , squeals a bit as Magnus, the first to reach her, grabs her around the waist and hauls her up, trying to pull her away. She kicks and struggles, and something in Taako’s mind screams wrong wrong  _ wrong _ . He falls to his knees, his breathing short in the damn magic bubble  _ – definitely because this is probably 100% an assassination thing, not because for some reason seeing her getting attacked sends his head reeling and chest tight –  _ and is helpless to even do some defensive magic of his own. 

“Magnus, what’s going on?! It- It’s me, it’s–” Lup gets her arms grabbed by Killian and she grunts, deciding to struggle against her instead of finishing her sentence. All eyes are on the struggle, and palace guards now surround the fight, shielding the crowd of guests, but Taako is stuck stagnant in place in his  _ stupid fucking bubble _ . 

Above the noise of his beating heart, Taako can hear Magnus begin to speak, calm and collected even in the middle of a parry, “Ma’am, stop resisting. Ma’am– Hey, ow! She bit me!” 

She’s able to break free from Magnus as he reels from the bite, but one of her wrists is still gripped in an iron-tight hold by Killian as the other guards all draw their swords. Taako’s heart leaps into his throat, and he shouts out a deafening “no” but no one can hear him but himself. He doesn’t know why, but this woman  _ can’t  _ become a kebab. Not tonight. Not while Taako’s watching. She just  _ can’t _ . 

At his shout, she looks over and makes eye contact with him again. She mouths something that looks like a  _ “sorry” _ before her hands catch on fire and she blasts off one of the biggest scorching rays he’s ever seen in his life. 

As the guards are thrown back, she’s let go, and smoke fills the air from another spell. 

When Taako is finally able to see the room again, the ballroom is a total disaster; some parts of the curtains are on fire, the flooring where she stood singed, the furniture nearby completely turned to ash. Somehow the guests are left untouched, though a fair few members of the guard look pretty bad off. What’s the most important thing to note about the room, however, is the fact that the woman is completely gone. No sign of her anywhere in the room. 

Taako feels the magic around him dissipate and he collapses to the ground, not even truly caring that he looks weak. He  _ feels _ weak. What the hell just happened? 

Lucretia is the first at his side, wrapping her arms around him tightly, and okay  _ that  _ needs to stop. She’s holding him too tight, her hands are too hot on his skin right now, he–

“Taako, oh thank god, Taako. I saw her right when she was about to approach you, I was all the way across the room, I didn’t know what to do! Are you alright? She didn’t speak to you, did she? Didn’t say anything?” 

“N– Nope, no threats here. Was that what the whole bubble thing was? I thought it was just a magic show.” 

Lucretia’s face morphs from anxious to annoyed as he tries to brush off how serious the situation is, and she rolls her eyes as she helps Taako stand up again. “You shouldn’t joke, your majesty. This was a serious breach in castle security! What L– what that woman could have  _ done _ to you, honestly, I don’t want to– I don’t want to think about it. You’re to go straight to your quarters, and two guards be placed at your door all night in case she comes back. Magnus! Carey!” 

Taako doesn’t joke any more as Magnus and Carey, both a bit singed but otherwise unharmed, rush up obediently. He doesn’t even speak, not as Magnus’ hand finds his shoulder and leads him gently out of the ballroom and through the castle to his bedroom. He’s deposited in his room after it’s checked by the guards, and he just...sits at the edge of his bed a long moment, trying to process everything. Did he almost just die? The woman, she– she didn’t seem to want to harm Taako, she looked like she just wanted to talk. 

He can’t get the look of utter horror on her face out of her head. 

Eventually, Taako stands and changes into his sleep sack for the night. He curls up under the blankets and closes his eyes, and just…pretends tonight never happened. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very late, apologies. Wifi at my family kicked it and so I had to wait until I got back to school. Next chapter should be up in two days though.

_“Ta-- Taako, thank the gods, Barry and I have been looking for you everywhere. Are you-- are you a part of what Lucretia did with--”_

_Her eyes. They’re-- Taako could excuse the hair looking similar, but her eyes are the same shade of blue, and her nose is a similar shape to his, her **skin tone** \--_

_“Taako, what the hell? Taako, call them off. Call them off, Taako, it- It’s Lup, your-- Wha-- Magnus-- Ma-- Maggie, what the fuck?! Put me down!”_

_Magnus’ arms wrap around her, and she screams, and something about this sight feels like a memory and yet this version of it seems so wrong, wrong, **wrong** \--_

_“Magnus, what’s going on?! It- It’s me, it’s–” Lup. She said her name is Lup, but why is she talking like she knows them? Why does she look so much like Taako? How does she know Magnus’_ _name_ _? How does she know **Lucretia**? Yes, everyone knows Taako, but not everyone knows the palace guards or advisers by name, so _ **how does she know?**

_Magnus is talking. What’s he saying again? Everything is getting so fuzzy. Taako can’t keep his eyes off of her. Wait-- Wait, no, they’re pointing their swords at her again, no no **no** \--_

“No!” 

Taako’s body flings itself upright in bed, hand flying to his wand and firing off a stray magic missile before his brain can fully wake up. All three hit his desk, luckily, and not the mirror directly next to it, but the scream coupled with the loud noise are enough for Magnus and Carey to rush into the room with swords drawn. 

“What is it? You alright, Prince Taako?” 

“Are you alright?! What’s going on?!” 

“I’m-- I’m fine, it was just a nightmare. Go away.” 

Magnus and Carey look exhausted, but if they looked tired Taako looked even more wrecked. Elves don’t need sleep, but Taako prefers to do so, and even if he didn’t he’s so wired now a normal mediation sesh would definitely be ruined by how high strung he is. He was only almost _killed_ (presumably)a few hours ago, after all. That’s definitely a valid reason to be scared out of your damn pants. 

“You-- You sure? Maybe we should check the closet, just in case--” 

“It’s _fine_ , Maggie. Carey, sweetie, tell the man I’m fine. I’m still alive, aren’t I?” 

“...I think the prince is right, Magnus. Besides, our replacements are here to take over. If anything is off they’ll know better than our tired asses.” Carey says tiredly. Magnus takes a moment before he nods slowly, lowering his sword, and they step out with a quiet goodnight. Taako doesn’t bother laying down again as the door shuts, enveloping him in darkness-- that is, until paranoia wraps its way up his throat. He lays down again quickly, hiding his head under the blankets, breathing heavy. 

Taako is eventually able to fall back asleep, though not as heavily as he’s used to, and so when Lucretia bursts into his room some time mid morning the next day, he’s not the happiest camper. 

“What the fuck, dude? I’m sleeping.” 

“I know last night was stressful, your majesty, but you shouldn’t let that ruin your attitude. The situation has been dealt with, and you’re able to go on throughout your day as normal. Which I suggest doing.” Lucretia says sternly. She doesn’t rip the blankets off him, like she has many times before, and Taako considers himself lucky in that regard. “If you go outside, Avi is in the guard station and assigned to you today.” 

“Alright, alright. Can I go back to sleep now, or?..” 

Lucretia sighs, her forehead scrunching up a bit. It’s times like this that Taako realizes just how old Madame Director is-- though he suspects the all gray hair is just for show, rather than old age. Still. Despite being human, she holds the tiredness of someone twice her age in her eyes. 

Well, running an entire castle’ll do that to you, he supposes. 

“I’ll come check on you throughout the day, see how you’re doing.” 

“No need, I’m just peachy dandy,” Taako calls out over his shoulder, already under the covers all the way again. He mutters as he falls back into a half-sleep, “Right as rain...” 

-

The nightmares don’t stop. 

Sure, Taako’s used to it, he’s had night terrors a lot of his adult life, but these are new. He keeps seeing that woman -- _Lup._ Sees her approaching him at the party, her face, her pleading. Sometimes the nightmares involve her getting speared by Magnus’ sword. Sometimes they involve her shooting that scorching ray right at Taako, piercing through the force field Lucretia threw up around him, or at Magnus. 

Her cryptic words aren’t helping him feel settled either. The way she acted as if they’ve known each other for years, the way she sounded desperate to tell him something when she realized she wasn’t welcome, what she said about Lucretia, just-- all of it. 

It’s exhausting, honestly. 

He doesn’t tell Lucretia, because she’ll worry. Doesn’t tell Magnus, because he’ll volunteer to station himself in front of Taako’s bedroom every night and he doesn’t want to take Magnus’ well-deserved rest or time from Julia just because of a little good old-fashioned paranoia. 

"Hey, Madame Director-- He-- Lucretia, or whatever, can I ask you something?” 

Lucretia is acting funny, too. She’s been avoiding him, or maybe he’s imagining it. Normally the woman is always on his case (about his etiquette, his dress, his goofs), but in the week since his assassination attempt, she’s been radio silent. Only coming to grab him for meetings, and being very terse about his questions. 

“Prince Taako, I apologize, I’m running a bit late today, there have been some issues with members of the royal militia on the outskirts of town that need dealt with, as well as another meeting about tracking the assassin sent to kill you--” 

“Yeah, yeah, about that; if you catch who did it, I’d like a few words with her. Total lack of panache with how she did it, seriously. I was just coming to ask you if you know any more about the whole thing?” He looks at his nails as he talks, though he can see in his peripheral vision Lucretia stiffens. She shakes her head as Taako looks up, eyebrows raised. 

“I’m sorry, nothing new yet. I assure you, however, we are doing everything in our power to find her and whoever hired her, and they will be tried for treason and attempted murder.” 

“Natch,” Taako shrugs. “I just wanna get the whole thing done with.” 

“Yes, yes you and me both your majesty. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” 

Lucretia rushes off before Taako can complain anymore and it’s suspicious as hell. He watches her go for a minute before shaking his head and making his way over to the kitchens. He’s able to bake a small batch of cupcakes for himself before the dinner rush starts and he’s shooed out. Magnus is at the guard station when he decides to make a trip to the gardens, and he’s thankful-- he likes the other guards enough, but Magnus is...different. He can’t quite place it, but Magnus gets him in a way that no one else really does. 

“Hey, have you slept any in the last week?” 

“Huh? Elves don’t sleep, genius.” 

Magnus rolls his eyes, and if Taako was any other royal he’d get scolded or something. “We both know you do anyway. Have you gotten any rest? You look like hell.” 

“Wow, thanks, Maggie, that means so much to me,” Taako drawls, rolling his eyes back. He conjures a mage hand and flick him off. Magnus’ nose wrinkles and he waves the hand away, throwing a stick at him. It hits Taako in the face and he flicks him off with his real hand this time, laughing. 

“I’m serious. Is that whole assassination attempt really getting to you? Doesn’t seem much like you.” Magnus says, and he sounds so _concerned._ Damn him. 

“I’m fine. Just a bit jumpy, is all.” 

“You sure?” 

“ _Yes_ , geesh.” Taako snaps. “How can’t I not be? I’d like to live very much. Can you drop it now?” 

“Yeah, if you say so,” Magnus says with a shrug. He goes back to polishing his sword, and Taako goes back to casting random cantrips. At some point Merle yells at him for accidentally lighting a bush on fire, but he begrudgingly stops. He’s balancing his wand on his nose when quiet footsteps approaching catch his attention, and he whips his head around, ready for whatever’s coming, only to find-- 

“Oh. It’s just a boy.” 

Magnus raises his head with a grunt, confused. “Huh?” 

“H- Hello, sirs.” 

A little half-elf boy, around ten or eleven, stands in front of them, seemingly undisturbed that Taako still has his wand drawn on him. Magnus still looks confused, though he doesn’t seem threatened by the kid. 

“Hey there, kiddo. What’s going on? How’d you get here?” Magnus asks hesitantly. 

“Oh, that’s nothing for you to worry about sir,” The half-elf boy says, non-committal, “My name is Angus McDonald, and I’m a private investigator. I was hired to contact prince Taako, and this seemed like the fastest way to streamline the process rather than go through the hearing process.” 

“Contact about what? And aren’t you a little young to be a PI?” 

“I’ll have you know, sir, age doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be a certain age to find the truth.” 

“But what truth finds you sneaking onto castle grounds to talk with the prince?” Magnus asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

Angus looks hesitantly over at Magnus, fidgeting with his book bag. “...Well, I should probably talk to you in private, sir. I was told by my employer that no one else was allowed to hear...” 

“Yeah, no, I was already almost killed once this week. No thank you,” Taako says. “Magnus here can stay just in case you’re here to kill me.” 

“Oh, no, I’m not here to do that sire! But if you insist...” Angus takes a step closer, looking around the garden, before he speaks in a low face. “Prince Taako, do you trust Madame Director?” 

Taako blinks. 

That’s not what he was expecting. 

“...Why wouldn’t I trust her, kid? She’s kinda, like, my...boss? Mother figure?..” What _is_ Lucretia to him? Whatever, that’s not important. 

What _is_ important, however, is this kid trying to question his loyalties. 

“Well, sir, the people who hired me seem to have some inside information that Madame Director has seized total power of the kingdom and had done something to incapacitate the king. They’re quite worried for your safety. They--” 

Magnus, ever loyal, hops up and makes his way to Taako’s side. “Lucretia wouldn’t do that! The king was at the prince’s birthday ball, so he’s not dead. He’s just soft spoken, is all.” 

“I don’t mean to offend, sirs! What I’m sharing with you is simply what my employers are theorizing.” Angus rushes, eyes widening behind his glasses (which are far too big for his face, his parents need better taste). “As I was about to say, they can explain it much better than me, I’m simply the messenger.” 

“Well, your employers are wrong and you can tell them that. Were they expecting the prince to just turn his loyalties against Lucretia just like that?” 

“Oh, no, not at all. They’re simply worried for his safety and wish to meet with him, is all--” 

“And who is this employer, may I ask?” Taako breaks into the conversation, arms crossed and staring down at the kid. Angus looks down at his feet and pushes his glasses up on his face. 

“I-- I’m not allowed to say their names, sirs...There may be prying ears...” 

“C’mon, kid. Unless your source is credible, Taako’s not listening.” 

“I’m really not allowed to say. I’m sorry.” Angus says. “So...will you meet with them?” 

“Yeah, that’s gonna have to be a no kid.” Magnus says in answer for Taako, and Taako glares at him. This kid showing up right after Taako is almost killed, warning him about Lucretia, is absolutely mental. He kind of wants to know what the deal is. “I’d leave the grounds if I were you, too. Not all guards are going to be as nice as I am with your sneaking around.” 

Angus frowns at them. 

“...Okay. I suppose if I can’t convince you...” He hands something over to Taako, a piece of blank parchment. “If you change your mind, sir, my employer has charmed this; you can write on this parchment and reach me on the other end. Goodbye, sirs.” 

With one little bow, Angus leaves the way he came. Taako watches him go, the parchment dangling from his fingers lazily. “Well that was weird.” 

“Yeah. I’m gonna have to bring up the security issue with Madame Director. Want me to toss that?” 

Magnus reaches for the parchment and Taako snatches it away quickly, clutching it a bit tighter. Magnus raises an eyebrow at his white-knuckle grip on the paper, but doesn't say anything as Taako clears his throat and speaks: 

“I’ll get rid of it, muscles. No worries.” 

“...Alright,” Magnus says. “Can you believe what that kid said about Lucretia? Stealing all the power of the king?” 

“I mean, the guy never talks. He could just be one of Lucas’ robots. Maybe Lucretia killed and replaced him with a robot.” 

“You don’t really _believe_ any of that, do you?” 

Taako shrugs. “I dunno. Kinda into the conspiracy theory the kid’s got going.” 

Magnus shakes his head with a chuckle, rolling his eyes. “Let’s get you inside, dinner’s soon.” 

-

Taako almost forgets about the kid. Almost. 

He’s settling down at his desk to write down a couple of things when the day is over, one of the cupcakes he’d made earlier in one hand and pencil in the other when he feels something crinkle in his pocket. He pulls it out and finds the blank parchment and remembers his weird little encounter earlier in the day. 

_“Prince Taako, do you trust Madame Director?”_

Taako thinks back to how weird Lucretia has always acted towards him, compared to how she was after the recent assassination attempt, and frowns. She’s always been kind of dodgy, and-- well-- He isn’t entirely sure he _does_. But Lucretia wouldn’t do anything to hurt him -- or the king -- right? 

Shaking his head to clear it, Taako decides impulsively that he’s going to find out. 

**Hey, kid. Tell me what you know.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments/Kudos are much appreciated! I hope you all enjoyed this (late) chapter and hope you stay for the next! <3


	3. Chapter 3

It takes this Ango kid a few hours to reply. At first Taako is frustrated, but then he realizes that Angus is a literal child and only a half-elf, so he needs _actual_ sleep. He decides the best option is to just go to bed, too, and so he does. The next morning, he goes about his morning routine at his vanity, having forgotten about Angus until he sits at his desk. When he eventually looks at the parchment again, there’s a reply from Angus: 

**_> >Wow, I didn’t expect you to reply, sir! Angus McDonald_ **

**_> >I sadly don’t know much, my employers have a bit of a language barrier. Apparently they’ve been cursed to omit certain parts of speech, from what I can gather. But they are extremely concerned about what Madame Lucretia may be doing with her power as royal adviser. Angus McDonald_ **

Taako rolls his eyes at how formal the kid is even texting. He writes down a reply: 

**Well what’ve they told you that you could understand?**

**_> >They say that there’s something coming to attack. What, exactly, I can’t completely understand. But whatever it is, it’s dangerous, sir. Angus Mcdonald_ **

**_> >They believe Madame Lucretia is hiding that knowledge from the people, including the king. Angus McDonald _ **

Taako stares down at the words and frowns. Why would Lucretia hide something like that? And how would she _know_? How would _Angus’_ _employers_ know? 

**What kind of danger?**

_**> >Like I said, I don’t know the danger specifically because of the language barrier, Sir. Angus McDonald ** _

**So, does any of this have to do with that assassination attempt last week?**

_**> >I know for a fact that it was not an assassination attempt, sir. Angus McDonald ** _

_**> >My employers have asked me not to reveal their names in a space where they may be accidentally revealed to Madame Lucretia, but I can assure you that the woman who appeared at your birthday ball was there to warn you of the same danger as I. Angus McDonald ** _

**What do you mean?**

Taako glares at Angus’ replies, his mind swirling. A _warning_? _More importantly,_ what kind of spell forces someone to omit speech in the way Angus is describing? His head hurts just thinking about it. 

“Taako? Your majesty, I’ve been calling for you, didn’t you hear me? You have a meeting in ten minutes! What are you doing that you aren’t paying attention?” 

Taako flinches as his door opens and someone steps inside, light from the hallway flooding into his mostly dark room and illuminating their body. He blinks and relaxes a bit when he sees it’s only Lucretia, though he does snatch up the magic parchment and shove it in his pocket. He smiles at her. 

“Sorry, Director, just really in the zone this morning. Had an idea for a book.” 

Lucretia raises an eyebrow. “A book?” 

“Who wouldn’t want a tell-all about the prince’s life before being a royal? I figured I’d write it before someone else can.” Taako shrugs, nonchalant. Lucretia stares a moment, her gaze piercing, and Taako almost thinks she’s not buying it. After a moment, though, she shrugs and turns back to the door. 

“Maybe give the manuscript to the castle legal department before you publish it. Now, come on, we’re running late.” 

Taako groans as he stands, “Ugh, what’s it for this time? I’m kinda really into this book idea, don’t wanna lose motivation,” 

Taako stands and decides he’s just not up to getting dressed in fancy clothes today. His makeup is done and hair braided back, but pajamas are going to be much more comfortable; Lucretia gives him a tired look when she sees he’s decided to walk around the castle in pajamas, but doesn’t fight him on it. 

“It’ll be a short one, and then you can get back to your writing, promise.” 

Taako follows Lucretia down the hall, keeping a bored gaze at the back of her head, one hand clutching his parchment tightly in the pocket of his pajama pants. After a moment, Taako decides to risk one question: 

“Hey, uh...you ever figure out what happened to that broad who tried to kill me? Like, where she went? Or _still_ no news?” 

Lucretia turns to him, and for the first time her face is kinda...readable. Her face is always so hardened and unable to see emotion in, and right now it’s so-- so _tired_. Her frown is deep, and the wrinkles on her face look like they’ve multiplied in the last few days. “We’re doing everything we can to find her, Taako, I assure you. Security around the castle is doubled, and we have magic wards up in case she tries to get in with some sort of magics, so you needn’t worry about that. Just leave it to those meant to protect you.” 

“Right, right, sure.” Taako says. “Not worried about that at all. Just wanted to know if you caught ‘er ‘cause I wanna know why she thought to murder ch’a boy when the king was at the party for a bit there. Why go for me when the real thing was right there, y’know?” 

...and, yeah, Lucretia’s definitely acting suspicious, because she looks like she’s looking for any way to get out of this conversation. 

“Yes, I’m not entirely sure either. Though I am regretful she tried to kill you, I am grateful there wasn’t an attempt on the king’s life. _That_ would have been horrendous.” 

“More horrendous than losing _me_? Taako, y’know, from TV?” 

Lucretia cracks a smile at that, and she shakes her head, chuckling. “It would be a shame, of course.” 

Taako nods, crossing his arms. Lucretia opens the door and ushers him inside the room “Damn straight.” 

The meeting is, as promised, a short one. 

The kind isn’t there, and even though normally Taako wouldn’t give half a shit, now that fact causes him to have a bit of suspicion. He’s able to start an argument for the hell of it, and Lucretia decides he doesn’t need to be included. Once he’s kicked out, he wanders around the castle for a bit looking for somewhere to hide away from everyone and write to Angus. He needs to know more about this curse, and about the danger that Lucretia is hiding from the kingdom. Lucky for him, when he peeks his head into the guard station, Magic Brian is asleep at the desk and he’s able to sneak past easily. He finds a patch of trees and bushes and decides that this is the best place to hide, tucked between the foliage. 

With a sigh, Taako falls onto the ground, taking the parchment out of his pocket. He isn’t too happy about sitting on the ground, he’d much rather finish this communication with Angus in private, but the castle is generally bustling at this hour, even in the housing wing. He doesn’t want to risk this conversation being intercepted at all. 

Peeking around the gardens, Taako pulls the parchment from his pocket and looks at it. He’s intrigued to see his previous messages have disappeared from the page since he folded it away, but the messages he has yet to read from Angus remain. The messages become increasingly more worried as the day progresses, and Taako feels a little bit of guilt at that. 

_**> >If you come meet up with my employers, they can explain better! Angus McDonald** _

_**> >Sir? Angus McDonald** _

_**> >...Hello? Sir? Are you there? Angus McDonald ** _

Taako sighs, conjuring a pencil and scribbling on the page. 

**Hey, sorry didn’t mean to leave you on read like that. Prince stuff.**

_**> >Oh thank goodness. I thought perhaps our correspondence may have been compromised. Angus McDonald ** _

**Yeah, sorry about that. Taako’s a busy elf, kid.**

_**> >Right, sorry! So, will you do it? Meet up with my employers? Angus McDonald ** _

Tapping his chin with the pencil and glaring at the paper, Taako thinks a moment. This all seems suspicious, but not at all _any less_ suspicious than Lucretia’s been acting. He doesn’t know exactly what to believe right now. 

**...I’m still not all that convinced. How about you come talk to me in person, see if you can give me a better explanation with mouth words.**

_**> >Oh. Alright, sir. When are you available and where should I meet you? Angus McDonald ** _

**I’m free right now, bubbula. In the gardens. Why don’t you sneak in the same way you did yesterday and we’ll have a chat?**

_**> >Alright, sir! I’ll find you! Angus McDonald   
** _

**See ya then**

Taako folds the parchment back up and tucks it and the pencil away again, leaning his head against the trunk of a tree and taking a breath. He isn’t sure how much he believes this, the kid’s being kind of evasive, but he doesn’t know how much he trusts Lucretia right now and he might as well entertain the idea that something’s going on. 

“Merle, have you seen prince Taako? Madame director thinks he’s out hiding in the gardens again.” 

Taako mutters a swear word under his breath and ducks down a bit more, pulling his wizard hat off of his head to try and hide better as Magnus’ voice calls out to the grounds keeper. 

“I ain’t seen ‘im, sorry Maggie. He’s always out here on his own, though, I don’t get why he has to have a guard with him anyway,” Is Merle’s reply. Taako can’t see him with how he’s hidden, but he can picture the dwarf waving a dismissive hand as he sets down a book and stands from his fantasy lawn chair in his gardening shed. “I can help you look, if you need, though.” 

“Madame Director doesn’t want him alone for too long, especially after that assassination attempt,” Magnus says, sounding worried. Taako frowns. “And there was a bit of a security threat yesterday...” 

“Security threat?” 

“Yeah, a kid got onto the grounds yesterday--” 

A loud alarm goes off, startling Taako, and he flinches thinking he’s been caught. Instead, when he turns his head in the direction of the noise, he finds Avi hoisting one Angus McDonald up by his underarms near an opening in the gate that had previously been covered by shrubs. Lucretia looks to be running up behind him, though much slower in her official Director garb. If Taako weren’t so distracted by the fact that Angus is currently struggling to get out of Avi’s grip, he’d think it’s funny to see “Madame Director” looking so flustered. 

Upon hearing the alarm, Magnus rushes into the scene and helps Avi wrangle Angus together. 

“I knew putting those sensors around the gate would tighten up security. I’ll send someone to fix that hole immediately. Avi, if you could take this young man to the brig please. Magnus, we still need to find Taako.” 

“Right!” 

Well, fuck. 

How the hell is he supposed to break the kid out of jail? 

-

Angus McDonald is -- and he doesn’t want to brag -- pretty good at not getting caught in his many ventures for the truth. Today is not his lucky day. 

He’d gotten through to prince Taako, and was going to convince him to come talk to Miss Lup and Mr. Barry, but it appears perhaps prince Taako had lied. Or maybe that guard, Magnus, had gotten ahold of the parchment.

Either way, right now he finds himself sitting in front of Madame Director in the dungeon under the castle, hands cuffed in front of himself. 

“Hello, dear.” Madame Director folds her hands together in her lap and forces a smile. Angus keeps his gaze leveled at her, trying to keep his face neutral like his detective books say to do. He’s lucky he hadn’t brought his bag with him, or Miss Lup and Mr. Barry’s location could have been compromised. 

“Hello, son.” 

“Hello, ma’am.” 

“Angus McDonald, right?” 

“Correct.” 

“How direct, you are, Angus. I appreciate that-- no dancing around.” Madame Director says with a hum. “I’m sure you understand why you’re in trouble. Sneaking onto the castle grounds, especially so recently after the prince was almost assassinated, is an arrestable offence even for a child.” 

“Yes, I do. But I don’t think he was _really_ almost assassinated, do you?” 

That might’ve been the wrong thing to say. Madame Director’s eyes darken and she levels a glare at him, her hands clutching tighter in her lap. Angus flinches. 

“That would be a wrong assumption.” She says tightly. “And I would _assume_ that you wouldn’t think that without the thought being implanted in your brain. So. _Who in the world_ might’ve suggested that to you?” 

Angus takes a breath, trying to keep his body still and his eyes locked with hers, so she doesn’t know he’s lying. “No one, ma’am. I didn’t mean to offend, of course. It’s just that, of all of the eyewitness reports I’ve heard, no one even saw the assailant draw a weapon, and only attacked the guards _attacking her_. I was simply coming to find prince Taako to talk about his side of the story.” 

“Are you sure about that? Because one of my guards who was out with the prince _yesterday_ when you snuck onto the grounds has informed me that you’re attempting to get the prince to question his loyalties to the kingdom of Neverwinter.” 

“Do you have that in writing?” Angus asks. Madame Director looks at him with raised eyebrows. 

“ _Excuse me?_ ” 

“Do you have a written statement from me, from yesterday, that that’s what I said to the prince?” Angus asks, and that seems to upset Lucretia even more. He folds his together and leans back against the wall. “If you don’t have a written statement or any other way of recording me, there’s no way you can try me for treason. The only thing you can try me for is breaking and entering-- and I don’t know if you know this, ma’am, but _I’m just a little boy_. Even in cases where they _are_ guilty, little boys don’t often get thrown in jail.” 

There’s a moment of silence, in which Angus waits anxiously. Eventually, Madame Director speaks up: 

“...Just tell me where she is, and I’ll let you go without trial.” 

Angus blinks. “I’m sorry, ma’am?” 

“I know she sent you, Angus. Tell me where she’s hiding, and you can go right now.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am.” Angus says, because he’s not a narc and this case could mean _the end of the world_ , if miss Lup is telling the truth-- which he thinks she is. 

Madame Director stands up rather abruptly, and Angus flinches again, scared for a moment her interrogation tactics may suddenly take a turn, but instead she just strides towards the door of the cell and steps out. 

“I _will_ get this out of you, Angus McDonald. My intentions are for the better of-- of all of Faerun. There is so much more at stake than an eleven year old boy can comprehend,” She says, her voice shaking, and then she’s gone. 

The guard locks the door again and leaves as well, leaving Angus to sit alone in the empty jail cell. Angus’ shoulders slump, and he melts against the wall with a shuddering breath. He isn’t one to cuss often, but _fuck_ this situation sucks. And of course he has no way of communicating with miss Lup or Mr. Barry about what’s happening. 

He just can’t believe Taako turned on him like that. He’d thought the prince was rather genuine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up: jail break 
> 
> Comments/Kudos are much appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last pre-written chapter I have, so updates might be a little slower coming up. I have finals coming up but I'll try to do my best to keep updates at least once a week until they pass, and then back to the regular every-other/every-other-three days. 
> 
> Enjoy this chapter:

If Taako wasn't suspicious before, he fully is now. What kind of crazy person throws a _kid_ into _jail_? Lucretia, apparently. It doesn't make any sense; the kid should just be scolded and escorted off grounds, he could've gotten lost is all! Well, he was sneaking in through a hole in the gate, so maybe--

No, it doesn't matter.

The kid is in jail and Lucretia is definitely hiding something. And now Taako's on lockdown and can barely get to go piss on his own. Ango probably doesn't have that charm paper either. Damn it.

He spends the next three days brainstorming. Escorted by guards everywhere he goes, wards put up around his room so Lucretia is notified when anyone comes in or out, including through windows. 

It all feels kinda dystopian and Taako fuckin’ hates it. For more than one reason. 

Around lunch time one day, however, he’s stuck with Avi and just bored as hell with someone just constantly _around_. 

“So, it uh...take you this long to get ready all the time, or?..” 

“It takes time for perfection, darling. And _Taako’s_ perfection.” He says, not looking away from his mirror. Avi yawns and falls back into the overstuffed chair in the corner and suddenly an idea hits him. “I’ll be done in a minute, but uh-- can you grab my jacket out of the closet?” 

Avi sighs and gets back up, going to the closet doors. He begins searching, calling over his shoulder, “Which one? You have, like, a millio--” 

Before Avi can finish, however, Taako picks up his wand and casts sleep. 

As soon as Avi’s form crumbles to the ground, Taako gets to work; Avi won’t be asleep long enough for his escape, and so he’s going to need to be quick. Rip up sheets, tie him up tight, cast a silence spell on his bedroom, and then go. Luckily, he’s had a bag packed since the king took him in and so he quickly picks it up. 

If this doesn’t work, he’s going to be in _so much_ trouble-- this kid better fucking be worth it. 

-

Angus is in the brig for about three days. He’s fed three meals a day, and there’s a toilet in the cell, but he’s growing increasingly more anxious as he searches for an escape with no luck thus far. He isn’t mistreated, even when Madame Director comes to interrogate him, but it surely isn’t a position he would like to be in for much longer. 

Around lunch the third day, one of the guards -- Avi, the one who captured him in the first place -- comes in, but he doesn’t have the usual lunch tray. Instead, he unlocks the front door and reaches in, hauling Angus up by the collar of his now dirty shirt, and Angus’ fancy boy hat falls from his head. He yelps, scrambling to grab his hat before it falls to the floor as Avi pulls him along down the hallway. 

“Come on, kid, the Director wants to see you in her office.” Avi says a bit too loudly, pulling Angus along, and Angus stumbles as he practically sprints to keep up with the pulling. It hurts a little bit to get dragged along so roughly, and he tries to pull his arm away. 

Angus is so focused on that, that he doesn’t notice Avi actually drags him _outside_ and not to Madame Director’s office. They make it all the way off of castle grounds and into an alleyway off the main drag of Neverwinter before he recognizes where he is and he finally wrenches his arm free, turning to run off in the other direction when a familiar voice stops him in his tracks: 

“Wait up, kid, it’s me!” 

Angus freezes and turns on his heels, still sees the palace guard, but then Avi’s face morphs into the prince’s own, and his eyes widen. 

“Prince Taa--” 

A hand flies over his mouth and Taako hisses out a loud _shh_ , glaring at him. 

“Shut up, dingus, I’m like _one hundo_ percent not supposed to be out here.” Taako whispers at him. Angus nods slowly and Taako drops his hand from his mouth, waving his hand so the charm completely falls from his body and he’s in a pair of common clothes. It’s strange to see the prince looking common, especially considering the tabloids make clear the prince isn’t at all that conservative in his attire choices, but Angus is reeling more from the fact that Taako _broke him out of jail_ than anything. “We need to go, like right now, because we’re both gonna be in a lot of trouble if we stay in Neverwinter.” 

Angus looks up at the prince, his eyes wide in amazement. He’d just spent the last three days thinking he was betrayed, that the prince had given him up, and all of a sudden he’s _on his side_? 

“This isn’t-- This isn’t a goof, sir? You aren’t going to put me back in the brig?” 

“I’ve been trying to get you out since you got caught, pumpkin. What, did you really think I let you get caught on purpose?” Taako asks flippantly, but when Angus nods slowly, his face morphs into something-- not soft, Taako isn’t _soft_ , but he does look a bit offended. “Wow, someone doesn’t have much faith in Taako. I just didn’t know how to break you out util now. Now, can we go? I seriously don’t think we can stay here without getting caught.” 

“Right, right. It should be a two day trek by foot, and we’re going to have to avoid the main road. Do you know any defensive magic, just in case? I have a crossbow, but it isn’t much...” 

“Oh Istus help me,” Taako sighs. “Yeah, I know a few cantrips to get us by, but I’ve used up all my spell slots for the day so let’s try not to get in _too_ much trouble.” 

Angus gives a salute, grinning. “I’ll keep you out of trouble, sir.” 

It turns out the kid was staying in an inn near the edge of town, and they stop there to grab his stuff. Taako has a small getaway bag of clothes and spell components he’d kept in his room from his days travelling before the castle and it’s a familiar, comfortable weight on his back as they travel through alleyways to the tavern. He really should’ve saved at least one spell slot for after he got rid of his glamour of Avi, so he could disguise himself. He’ll have to rest once they’re a safe distance away from the castle. 

“Here, sir, this might help disguise you a bit.” 

Taako looks up from where he’s picking at the bedsheets on the small cot and sees Angus holding up a piece of fabric-- a scarf? No, shawl-- to Taako. He takes it gingerly and drapes the (incredibly drab) shawl over his head tucking his hair underneath. Then Angus hands over a pair of glasses that look to be a spare for the entirely too large frames on his own face. Taako takes them and slides them on, surprised at how intense the prescription actually is. He can still see, though everything is warped. 

“Sorry if you can’t see in them, but I already hardly recognize you! Now, hopefully, if no one gets too close we should be fine!” 

“Smart thinking, pumpkin. Alright, let’s get headed out. Lucretia’s bound to know I’m gone soon enough.” 

“Right.” Angus pulls a map from his bag before slinging it over his shoulder and leading Taako out of the inn towards one of the smaller roads heading east. “My employers are residing in a cave just outside of Phandalin, sir.” 

“Geesh, you weren’t kidding that it’s a long walk. I thought maybe your short legs made it a bit of a walk for you,” 

“Sadly, no. My employers put me on a caravan to get here, and that took no time at all. They’ve already left, though...But-- But, you don’t have to worry about me being able to keep up, sir.” Angus says, and the kid sounds genuinely sorry he can’t help more. Taako rolls his eyes at that-- the kid’s too nice for his own good. He just shakes his head and ruffles Angus’ hair. 

“Yeah, whatever. You can try.” 

The walk is _miserable_. 

Taako supposes he should be glad it’s fair weather, that there’s no rain or snow. That would make the trip worse, and maybe even have him consider turning around, because even if Taako grew up travelling like this he’s spent nearly two years without it and he’s gotten quite spoiled in that regard. 

Luckily, the kid seems fine, although he almost immediately falls asleep after Taako feeds him one of the rolls he’d stolen from the kitchens before sneaking him out. Sleeping is out of the question for now, at least while on the run. Once Taako is sure the kid is asleep and the fire is out so they can’t be seen, he decides to prop himself against a tree and meditates. Throughout the night, while Angus sleeps, Taako wakes from his meditation on occasion to check on him. Not because he’s worried or anything! And _definitely_ not because he’s scared. It’s just that Taako doesn’t know how kids work. You’re _supposed_ to check on them regularly, aren’t you? He isn’t entirely sure. 

Some time around dawn Angus stirs awake, and Taako rouses himself as well. 

Angus rubs at his eyes as he reaches around for his glasses. Taako grabs them and hands them to the kid, who slips the lenses onto his face with a sleepy smile. “Good morning, sir! Did you rest well?”

“About as well as you can on the run from the royal guard,” Taako says with a shrug. He digs though his pack and pulls out a package of bacon and with a quick prestidigitation the previous night’s fire is lit again. “We’re gonna eat quick and get back on the road. How long ‘til Phandalin, ya thinkin’?” 

“Depending on how far we make it today, sir, we may need to sleep on the road again but hopefully if we move fast, we can be at my employer’s cave by dark.” 

Angus rolls up his bedroll and shoves it in his pack while Taako deals with the bacon. He pulls out a book from his bag and starts scribbling in it, and Taako raises an eyebrow. 

“What’s that, kiddo?” 

“Oh, this? It’s how I’m keeping in contact with my employers! It’s very similar to the enchanted parchment they gave me, except they can’t reply, they just see what I’ve written down.” Angus lifts the book to show Taako it’s well-scribbled in by now, neat handwriting scrawling across the pages. “See? They can read all of my notes and know everything is okay!” 

“That’s smart, I suppose, though sounds a bit...old.” Taako says, his nose wrinkling a bit. 

“Ah, I suppose so, but their reasoning is understandable. You see, they don’t use stones of farspeech because they aren’t secure. And them not being able to reply to me makes it only look like notes, and thus not incriminating if I get caught. Speaking of-- do you have yours on you, sir?” 

“Nah, forgot it. Sucks, too, ‘cause I got a cute boy’s number on that,” Taako sighs. “Hopefully after the whole ‘beat Lucretia’ thing or whatever, I can get it back.” 

“Yeah, wouldn’t want you to miss out on an opportunity for a date,” 

“Damn straight.” He hands some of the now cooked meat to Angus, along with the last of the rolls. Hopefully they make it to this cave by night, because he hadn’t snagged a lot of food. 

They eat in companionable silence, and Taako fixes up a few spell components in case they need them before they’re on the move again. Angus fidgets with the straps of his bag awkwardly for a while, before he finally speaks up. 

“So, sir!” 

“Yeah, bubbula?” 

“You were on a cooking show, right? How was that?” 

“It was alright,” Taako says with a shrug. “Though I don’t know how much I liked the fact that I almost got killed. That was the _first_ time that happened.” 

“Oh yeah, I read about that! That was three years ago, right?” 

“You’re a literal child, how old were you when that even happened? Like, three?” 

Angus laughs brightly, grinning at Taako, and he rolls his eyes. “I’m a little boy, yes, but I’m very smart for my age. I’ve been reading the newspaper to my grandpa since I was four, and chapter books since I was six.” 

Taako snorts out a laugh, reaching over and ruffling Angus’ hair. “Oh, man, you’re really a nerd. Y’know, you’d really get along with--” 

...With who? Taako’s brain must’ve lapsed a moment, he can’t even remember who he was just going to say the kid would get along with. 

“...You’d get along with...not me. I don’t do the whole nerd thing. I bet you like trick magic and shit,” He says, recovering quickly, and Angus’ eyes brighten up and _damn it_. “...You’re gonna make me do trick magic, now, aren’t you?” 

“Yes please, sir!” 

As the world begins to truly awaken, the road they’re on becomes busier than the day prior; there are carts passing more frequently than either Taako or Angus would prefer-- but that’s alright. With the shawl over Taako’s head and glasses on his face, he’s hardly recognizable. He’d use magic to disguise himself again, but he wants all of his spell slots just in case. Perhaps they should be more worried about Angus being recognized, because surely Lucretia will have a wanted poster out as soon as she recognizes he’s gone. 

Some time around noon, clouds cover the sun and Taako knows before it even starts that it’s going to rain. He looks around and, of course, there’s no shelter for them to take nearby. When the rain starts, Taako’s resorted to the idea of just pulling Angus under his cloak and suffering through it when he spots a cave up ahead. He grabs Angus by the collar and drags him along as it begins to sprinkle-- they make it inside just as the light rain starts to fall heavier. Taako groans. 

“Well, looks like we might be here a while, kid.” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while since the last update! Finals went well, I think, so it was worth the little break. Idk how often I'm going to be able to update this in the next couple of weeks; I'll be at my parent's house for winter break and my mom always forgets to pay the internet bill so it's a roulette wheel lol. 
> 
> Enjoy this chapter!

This last week has been…stressful, for Lucretia. She hasn’t slept since the ball– worry, fear, whatever keeping her awake. With confirmation that Lup is alive and _remembers_ , Lucretia is _terrified_. Terrified about what will happen to her plan, about how bad this could break if Lup _and_ Barry are both alive and searching for their family, about the fact that Magnus could have so easily _killed_ Lup the night of the ball and _not have known_ the hell he could have unleashed if she was able to get into her lich form– 

Shutting her eyes tight, Lucretia scrubs at them roughly. Her vision blurs a moment, a mixture of exhaustion stress and malnourishment from over the course of the week making her weak. She’s been pouring over a map of Faerun for hours, and missed her interrogation session with Angus today. It’ll be fine– maybe he’ll give Lup up, if she gives him some time to think. She’ll go down at dinner, which should be in about a half an hour or so, and talk with him. Lucretia blinks and her vision returns to normal, her eyes trailing over to the door as Carey rushes into her office. 

“We have a problem.” 

Lucretia is on her feet before she even registers it, and she has to prop herself up against her desk that she doesn’t fall over as her vision darkens at the rims. 

“Wha– What is it, what’s the problem?” 

“I went to prince Taako’s quarters to relieve Avi of his duties, and– and– the prince wasn’t there, and _Avi was tied up in the closet_. I don’t– I don’t understand, Avi says the– the– _prince_ was the one who did it.” 

“What?!” 

“That’s not all, Madame Director.” 

Lucretia’s heart drops, and she knows immediately what’s happening. 

“I’m not– I–” Carey cringes, before she just cuts to the chase– “Angus, the little boy from the brig, he’s…gone too.” 

Lucretia is only able to feel her panic boil over before she’s on the ground, unconscious. 

-

When news of the prince’s kidnapping makes its way through the castle, Magnus is the first to volunteer to search for him. Lucretia very rarely lets him do anything outside of the castle, and Taako is a close friend despite the power dynamic between them. Surprisingly, as the volunteers are being paired up there’s a large number of non-guard members of the castle staff including Julia and Merle. 

“We’re keeping as many members of the royal guard at the castle as possible, in case the prince’s kidnapping is a distraction of some sorts and someone is coming for the king. All of you have some sort of fighting background, and so we trust you to obtain the prince without risking his life.” Killian says, addressing the group of roughly twenty people in the room. 

“You’ll pair up and we’ll send each group on various trails out of the city, okay? Your stones of farspeech are all programmed to Madame Director’s emergency stone, so if you find him let her know and then obtain him and recapture the child.” 

Killian goes along grouping them off, but before she can even get to Magnus he has Julia by his side, grinning and bouncing on his heels. Killian gives him a fond smile, shaking her head as she shoves Merle to his other side. 

“There’s a road heading northeast, towards Phandalin. You guys check it out, and let us know where you are when you stop for the night, alright?” 

“You got it! How’s Madame Director doing?” 

“She’s in the infirmary. I’m on my way there now, and then team sweet flips is out. Now get heading, we want all parties back before sundown tomorrow!” 

“Alright! Good luck!” 

Fixing his provisions bag on his back, Magnus hooks his arm with Julia’s and pulls her and Merle out towards the stables. 

-

When Lucretia wakes, there’s a group of concerned members of her board and of the guard surrounding her. She’s in the nurse’s office, her feet propped up on some pillows. Groaning, Lucretia pushes herself up only to be pushed back down to the bed. She opens her mouth to protest, but Killian gently shakes her head.

“You– You fell pretty hard, Madame Director, it’s best you stay laying down. How much have you slept, in the last week?” 

“Not a lot, I will admit.” Lucretia says. She rubs at her forehead, as if that will stop the headache that’s begun to creep up behind her eyes and in her temples. “But I am fine, I assure you.” 

“Are you– are you sure? This week has been stressful, yes, but–” 

“I’m fine, Killian. Thank you all for worrying. But I need to– I need to get to work, set up people to go after the boy and regain custody of the prince, he’s in danger, I–” 

“We already have a search team set up, and are ready to go whenever you give the word.”

“Then go, send them out, now.” She says. “Send them out in pairs, and spread out as much as you can I have no idea where they’d be heading.” 

“Already on it. Carey and I will leave southeast with Noelle just as soon as we know you’re alright. Everyone else available is already out searching, and their stones of farspeech ready to contact you if they catch you.” Killian says. “ _Are_ you alright, Madame Director?”

“I– Yes. I am feeling much better, now go– please, just– go,” Lucretia waves the group out, and they leave– although hesitantly. Killian stops at the door, looking at her seriously.

“…Madame Director, please try to rest. The king has been informed, and the guard is out. I would invite you to go with us, but you’re in no shape to be out adventuring. I’m sorry.” 

Lucretia tries not to cringe when Killian says that; she isn’t too fond of the members of the palace staff talking to Davenport without her present, in case they realize he can’t say much more than his own name.

“Just bring him home, Killian.” 

Killian nods. “Of course.” 

“Oh, and– Killian!” 

“Yes?” 

“Can you send Magnus over here? I have a special job for him–” 

“I’m sorry Madame Director, Magnus is out searching for the prince. It’ll have to wait.” Lucretia curses. Killian frowns. “Something wrong?”

“No, no– Thank you, Killian. Now go on, I’ll stay here to rest for a bit.” 

Killian grins and gives Lucretia a thumbs up, rushing out to catch up with her comrades. As soon as Lucretia is sure Killian is gone, she stands and – as quickly as she can whilst so lightheaded – heads to the king’s quarters, where she keeps things she can’t keep in her own office. She has a feeling if Taako isn’t found soon, things are going to break very bad. Especially with Magnus out there too.

The ball is in Lup’s court, and Lucretia is scrambling to keep up.

-

Night falls over Faerun all too soon, and the search party has yet to find anything. Magnus grunts as he hops from the back of his horse, helping Julia and Merle off of their own horses as well. Dusk is slowly approaching night, and so Magnus makes haste in shooting two rabbits with his shortbow while Julia fixes up a fire and Merle gathers some mushrooms. 

“Man, I hope someone finds Taako soon. He’s definitely out of his element, out in the woods like this.” Merle says, dumping a handful of mushrooms and berries near the fire. Julia hums, poking at them with a stick while poking at the fire with another, and Magnus gets to skinning the rabbits. Magnus almost forgets to let the castle know they've stopped for the night but when he does, he quickly turns away from his work to call their group in. 

“You underestimate him, Merle, I’m sure he’s just fine.” 

“I dunno, Magnus, he’s kinda royalty, I don’t think he’s exactly out adventuring all the time.” Merle shrugs. “I mean, he doesn’t even like sitting on the grass in the gardens.” 

“I guess that’s true, but he wasn’t always the prince! He did that cooking show, remember? And– And– he didn’t actually say what he did, before…” 

Merle rolls his eyes. “Right. Either way, it’s best we get him home, before anything happens. I went down to the brig the other day to let Lucretia know about the uh-- the aloe issue, in the succulent garden, and that kid looks _shady_.” 

“He is! He is shady!" Magnus says, excited. "He said some weird shit about how he shouldn’t trust Lucretia, that his employers are worried about his safety or something. What kind of eleven year old gets that kind of idea?” 

Julia squints at Magnus, frowning. 

“I…don’t think a kid would just say those things, Mag. Who’d the kid say he worked for, even?” 

Magnus shrugs. “He wouldn’t say. Gave Taako some magic parchment and left, but Taako threw it away.” 

“Really?” Merle asks, frowning. Magnus is confused as he watches Julia and Merle make eye contact.

“Yeah. Hopefully we can catch the kid’s employers while we’re at it, and see if we can get the kid out of the trouble; he didn’t mean to get mixed up with all of this, surely.” 

“Maggie, I don’t…I don’t think Taako left unwillingly,” Julia says slowly, hesitantly. Magnus blinks. “What’s protocol if the prince doesn’t want to come with us?” 

And Magnus laughs.

“There isn't one! Why wouldn’t he want to go with us? He likes all of us, doesn’t he?” No one responds, and Magnus' mood drops. "...Guys. Taako's a prince, sure, and he's a bit rude, yeah-- but he's-- he's not... _A bad guy_. He wouldn't just betray the king and his friends just because a kid told him to and said some cryptic shit." 

"...Right." Merle says. 

"Well, we'll see, won't we?" 

"Yeah. You'll both see. Taako's not like that." 

But as Magnus thinks about it, he's not entirely sure of his own words. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone's had a joyous candlenights! This chapter was edited on my phone bc there's no Wi-Fi at my family's house and I can't use my laptop, so please forgive any errors and I'll fix them as soon as I have the chance. That said, enjoy the chapter!

The rain falls for an hour or so before it begins to slow down. Taako glares at the edge of the cave, arms crossed over his chest as he listens to Angus read one of his nerd books aloud-- an idea that he’d come up with after they’d settled into an uncomfortable silence leaning against the far wall of the cave. Angus’ bag is pretty heavy, with the books and shit inside it, which is a shock-- the kid is surprisingly strong, for how scrawny he looks. 

“The rain is clearing up, sir! I think we should be able to walk without getting too wet, now, if you want.” 

“We’ve lost a lot of time already, so yeah, uh-- let’s get our shit back together.” Taako stands, stretching his hands above his head. He reaches down and grabs his cloak, pulling it back over him and grabbing his pack again, slinging it over his shoulder as Angus packs his books away and hops to his feet. 

“Alright, let’s--” 

Taako raises a hand and covers Angus’ mouth, hissing out a _“shh!”_ as his eyes fall to the mouth of the cave again, as three large shadows fall over it. He pulls Angus close to the wall of the cave and creeps out of sight as a familiar voice breaks through the silence and echoes a bit in the cave. 

“I could’ve sworn I heard something in here!” 

“Magnus, you can’t just go rushing into literally every cave you see! How many times in the last day have you gotten us into trouble because you jumped into goblin dens?” Julia scolds, but the three shadows move farther inside. Taako holds a finger over his mouth and quickly casts alter self on himself and the kid. He isn’t entirely sure what his new form looks like, but Angus looks like a young girl instead of a boy, and it takes Angus a moment to process the change but when he does his eyes widen. 

“Pick a girls name just in case they ask and stick with it, and we’re leaving. Right. Now.” Taako says under his breath, his voice deeper than usual, more husky. “Don’t let anyone touch you.” 

“R- Right.” Angus says, swallowing thickly; he looks scared as all hell, but also amazed at the spell that’s been cast on him and like he’s going to ask a million annoying questions when they’re in the clear. 

“I don’t think I see anyone in here, let’s--” Merle’s voice starts, but is cut off by Magnus as they round the corner and see Taako and Angus’ disguised forms. 

Magnus says, “Oh! Hail and well met, friends! Seeking shelter from the rain?” 

“Uh-- Yeah-- Yes, we are, my good knights,” Taako says smoothly, pulling Angus closer by the collar of his shirt. “That storm was rather sudden, wasn’t it?” 

“Yes, quite hard to travel in by horse! Where are you two headed? We may be able to escort you to wherever you need,” Magnus offers, and of course he fucking would. Taako manages not to cringe as he shakes his head. 

“Oh, we’re quite fine, my friend. Almost to where we’re supposed to be, now!” He says. He can see Magnus and his party frown, and takes a hesitant step around them. He _so_ wishes he could ask why two palace staff not on the guard are out looking for him, but bites his tongue. Angus trips a bit as he walks around them, and Taako thinks _oh boy this is the end, thanks Ango,_ but he rights himself just in time before Magnus can reach out and help this “little girl.” 

“You sure? It might be a bit faster, getting on a horse...” 

“I’m quite sure, pal. Thank you for the offer, though. We appreciate it, don’t we honey?” 

“R- Right!” Angus squeaks. “We- We’re on a daddy-daughter adventure, just on our own!” 

“You all have a wonderful day, though!” Taako calls over her shoulder, and he ushers Angus towards the mouth of the cave as quickly as possible. They make it to the end before Merle’s voice calls out: 

“Hey, wait!” 

They both cringe, and Taako hisses in a breath of a curse before turning. “Yes?” 

“These yours? Might need ‘em!” 

In Merle’s hand is a pair of large, round frames.

Frames that Taako had taken off while they were resting because they hurt his fucking eyes so goddamn much. He wants to groan, but instead chuckles and shakes his head. 

“We were wondering that same thing, while we were sitting here. Looks like someone must’ve forgotten them.” He says, waving a dismissive hand, and then he turns back on his heel and mutters down to Angus, “Let’s go. I’ll get you a new pair when this is all over.” 

“O- Okay...” Angus mumbles. They exit the cave, and whereas Angus breathes a sigh of relief Taako stays stiff as a board. 

“We’re not out of the woods yet, kid. We’re gonna keep the disguise up as long as we can, alright? So keep acting like my kid, or whatever, I guess.” Taako murmurs down to Angus, and the kid nods slowly. There’s only a few minutes of awkward silence as they walk, the looming presence of the party closely behind them, before Taako can’t handle it. “Damn, I really ended up committing to the whole parent thing, didn’t I?” 

“You did,” Angus smirks. “Does that mean you can teach me a little bit about the spell you used to disguise us and it’ll look like you talking to your kid?” 

Taako actually groans at that, despite him trying to act like a good parent, and glares at Angus as he laughs. 

“You got me there, pumpkin, but I’m not happy about it.” 

-

They’re definitely being followed. Not intentionally, probably, neither Magnus nor Merle are smart enough to figure out a disguise spell in such a short interaction, surely-- but it’s still goddamn frustrating. They’re about ten yards in front of the search party, close enough to hear their conversation, and it has Taako’s shoulders stiff and attention focused razor-sharp. Time is ticking, and even though there was an hour on the spell he now only has about fifteen minutes and it’s looking like they’re nowhere _near_ Phandalin. 

“Angus,” Taako says, under his breath. He can already see a few of the slight changes he’d made begin to revert. “Angus, where is this cave? We’re running out of time, and it’s looking like there isn’t too many places to hide away.” 

“We should be there soon, but definitely not in time for the spell to be still in effect...we lost a lot of time with that rainstorm.” 

“Damn it. Alright, duck into those trees. We’re gonna have to lose a bit more time avoiding them, I’m thinking.” 

Angus nods slowly, and steps off the trail. He walks a bit farther into the woods, and Taako forces a smile as the search party passes them. Magnus has a concerned look on his face as they pass, and he stops his horse, because _of fucking course he would_. 

“Is everything alright, folks?” 

“Yes, yes, it’s just uh-- time for a potty break! Been on the road a while!” He calls, and his voice is already starting to return to normal. He curses internally. 

Magnus nods slowly, and starts moving forward again. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to notice his voice slipping. “Alright! Just checking!” 

“You all have a good trip, find what you’re looking for or whatever!” 

“You as well, good sir!” 

...And then they’re gone, and Taako is able to drop the disguises with a relieved sigh. 

“Alright, we should be fine, but we’re going to have to wait here for a while.” Angus, looking tired, nods slowly at Taako’s words, and they sit down. Taako reaches out a hand and grumbles, “Gimme your glasses, take a nap or something while we wait.” 

“I’m not a little kid, sir, I’m eleven. I don’t need a nap,” Angus says, but he hands over his glasses anyway and leans against a tree. Taako leans back, too, and levitates the glasses boredly in front of them. After a few minutes of them both sitting in silence, Angus with his eyes closed and Taako staring ahead at the trees, Angus speaks up. “...I can’t sleep, sir. I appreciate the attempt at getting me to rest, though.” 

“You and I are not alike, Angus. I could fall asleep anywhere, any time.” 

“If you want to sleep, you can, sir. I can keep watch.” Angus says, raising his head and opening his eyes. 

Nose wrinkling, Taako levitates Angus’ glasses back to his face and pushes them on. “No offence, pumpkin, but I’d rather die than let a kid keep watch while I sleep.” 

“Oh, none taken. Just a suggestion.” Angus says. “I’m much more capable than you give me credit for, though.” 

“I’m sure you are.” 

Angus hums, leaning his head back, and they’re left in the quiet again. Angus pulls out his communication book and scribbles something in it, like has the last time they’d stopped, before setting it down. And Taako watches him, frowning a moment. 

“Hey, Angus. Where’s your parents? Guardian-- person?..Who-- Who takes care of you? They're just, like, okay with this?” 

“Oh, I...I don’t have that.” Angus murmurs, and yeesh that’s awkward. “My parents died when I was young, and I’ve been living with my grandpa...He, uh-- He died about six months ago.” 

...Big oof. 

“I’m sorry, uh, that must be rough. So no one’s taking care of you now?” Taako asks hesitantly. As much as he tries not to feel bad, the kid’s backstory kinda really sucks, he can’t pretend it’s not. 

“I was on my way to an orphanage, when my train was attacked. That’s actually where I met my employers-- they helped myself and the other passengers on the train, and...I...I didn’t mean to, but I was just-- _drawn_ to them. I didn’t end up meeting the orphanage people. When we finally got to our final destination, I...I looked for them, to thank them, and I just couldn’t find them. So I started using my detective skills to search for them all over Faerun” 

“I take it you found them, little man.” 

“I did! It took three months, but I was able to locate them. They travel around a lot, hiding from the royal guard, and so it was very hard to find them.” 

“You’re really persistent, aren’t you, kid?” 

Angus laughs brightly. Taako rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. He doesn’t know what else to say-- talking anymore about Angus’ past might bring up some shit he doesn’t want to think about. He doesn’t think about what this kid went through in his three months alone on the road-- if he does, he’ll spiral into thinking about himself and his own past, and he’s not exactly a big fan of that. 

They wait there for a half an hour before they’re positive Magnus, Merle and Julia are quite far ahead of them. When they finally get to their feet again, Taako pulls the scarf back over his head, and since he doesn’t have the glasses this time he keeps his head low as they walk. However, they’re only walking another half an hour before the sight of two half-dead horses and one, frightened, sniffing at its friends, catches their eyes. Taako’s hand falls to Angus’ shoulder, and they both freeze. The first horse catches sight of them and bolts in the opposite direction, and welp. This doesn’t look good. 

“Hey, kiddo, is there another road anywhere nearby that we can go on instead of this one?” 

“We’d have to turn around and take the main road, sir. That’s a whole extra two days, added onto the two we have to walk to get back. Are-- Are those the horses that the castle guards looking for us were riding?” Angus asks, his voice cracking at the thought. Taako, already in survival mode, shakes his head. He won’t even look at the horses-- he really doesn’t want to know if they’re from the castle stables or not. 

“No, pumpkin, they aren’t. Let’s-- Fuck, I don’t have any invisibility spells,” Taako says, and the words put a coppery taste in his mouth, “Alright. We’re gonna need to-- to turn around. Go back to that cave for the night and- and wait until it's safe."

"Right...good idea...” Angus reaches for Taako’s hand, and he doesn’t pull away as they turn around. 

Just as Taako and Angus begin to leave, an arrow pierces the ground in front of them and well. They’ve officially gotten themselves into some trouble. 

Damn it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments/kudos are welcome!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one, here! Things are picking up to the midpoint now, I'm thinking; there's definitely going to be more than 11 like originally planned, bc I like the flow of shorter chapters rather than a really large chapter. 
> 
> Again, this has been edited on my phone due to the holidays. Sorry for errors!

Magnus is restless. 

They haven't been able to see hide nor hair of Taako or the kid, Angus, in the day and a half they've been travelling. In fact, they haven't seen much of _anyone_ the whole time they've been going down this road. There was that father travelling with his daughter but they weren't anything special. There was a group of mercenaries, but they were heading in the opposite directions so he couldn't even make friends. 

They’re a half an hour away from Phandalin when Lucretia’s voice comes over their stones of farspeech. “Alright, everyone, it’s time to turn back. I want you all back before sundown tonight with any updates you can give me.” 

There’s a handful of confirmations from other search parties, and Julia is about to confirm they’re turning around when Magnus picks up his stone. 

“Wait, Madame Director, we’re almost to Phandalin! Can we please finish the road, at least?” 

There’s a moment of silence, then, “No, Magnus, I’m-- I’m sorry, I can’t allow that. Everyone is to return now.” 

“But--” 

“I know you’re worried about the prince, we all are, but we absolutely cannot have you all out. You’re needed at the castle and _will_ return. Understood?” 

Magnus pouts. “Understood...” 

With that, Magnus turns his stone off and turns his horse around. Julia and Merle follow, and Julia rides up next to him. She stretches an arm out and claps a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, we didn’t find ‘im, but he’ll come home, Mags.” 

“But we-- I feel like we should at least finish our search in Phandalin. What if he’s there?” 

“We haven’t seen him so far, and unless he was on a wagon or horse there’s no way he’s anywhere near Phandalin at this time of day. We may even run into him on our way home!” 

“Yeah, Magnus! And let’s be real, the prince ain’t exactly the most athletic he’s probably walkin’ real slow.” Merle brushes off Magnus’ worry with a shrug, and Magnus frowns. 

“I don’t...He just has such a weak constitution...You know how elves are.” 

“It’ll be fine, Magnus.” Julia says. She removes her hand from his shoulder before her horse steers her off of the road. They ride in silence a while longer before they, collectively, can’t take it and begin to talk. Merle’s jokes calm Magnus’ anxiety a bit and he’s able to forget about Taako and the kid for a little bit. 

...That is, until he spots a set of familiar blonde curls down the road, back to back with a tan little boy, wand drawn as a group of thugs circle them. A magic missile flies towards the prince and the kid, two hitting Taako and one hitting Angus, and then Taako crumbles to the ground prone. 

Magnus immediately kicks up the speed, and there’s a confused noise of indignance from Julia before she also sees what Magnus had and she also makes her horse go faster, drawing her crossbow. 

“Merle, got any spells that’ll take those thugs out without putting the prince in danger?” 

“Nope! We’re gonna have to do this the old fashion way!” Merle calls back, just as Magnus arrives on scene. 

Magnus hops off of his horse and stumbles a bit, railsplitter in hand as he takes a wide swing at one of the five street thugs that have circled prince Taako and Angus. The thug is cleft well in twain, just as Julia is able to shoot down two of the ones farthest away, killing one and only injuring the other. One of them is able to use his rapier and slash at Magnus’ shoulder as what looks like the spellcaster of the group readies a magic missile and fires at Merle; two hit and he’s knocked off his horse ten yards away from the fray. 

“Oi! This is our bounty, assholes! D’you know how much money the king’s offering for the prince to be brought back home?!” 

“Yeah, I think we know,” Magnus snaps, taking another swing at the injured thug with an arrow through his shoulder. The thug dodges surprisingly easily-- he tries to fire a shortbow at him, but Julia is able to catch him in the leg before he can, and he falls to the ground. Magnus whoops. “Yeah! That’s my wife!” 

“Not now, babe!” 

“Right!” 

-

With Taako unconscious, Angus is the only one of the two able to feel panic as the royal guard roll up on the scene-- he’s thankful for the help, of course, seeing as his spellcaster is unconscious and he’s run out of arrows for his crossbow. They would have been captured, for sure, if Magnus hadn't arrived but they’re like _one hundred percent_ going back to the castle now; once this fight is over, at least. An arrow flies over his head and he flinches, ducking down next to Taako’s body. This isn’t what he signed up for when he took this job, and it’s terrifying. Tears prick in Angus’ eyes as he warches the scene in front of them. He whimpers weakly, flinching at the loud noises. 

There’s a loud cry as two more of the thieves that had attacked him fall to the ground, and then it’s only the spellcaster; he’d given them both the most trouble, considering he was a much higher level than the prince, and had knocked Taako out easily. Angus turns to check on Taako, seeing as the palace guard has this on lock. His hands shake as he brushes his hair away from his face and checks Taako's pulse. Still there. Thank gods. 

“Fuck-- hey, kid, look out!” Angus looks up just in time to see a scorching ray coming at him very _very_ quickly, and there’s no time to dodge or pull Taako away. So, Angus does the most logical thing he can think of: protect his charge and cover Taako's body with his own. 

The last thing Angus sees before the world goes black is flames enveloping the space around him, and then there’s nothing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one reading this fic noticed but I accidentally posted this chapter while trying to post an ask on my Tumblr (basically-i-write-shit). For more fuck ups like that and to ask questions about this fic, go over there and chat with me!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If there's one thing Lup, Barry, and Lucretia share in this whole endeavor is worry. About plans, about their family. When will it end?

Angus' updates are becoming increasingly more and more worrisome.

Lup wishes she was able to get in contact with him, but ultimately it was better that their interactions were only one-way when there's no way to know who's on the other end. Taako's with him, though, and even without his memories he wouldn't let an eleven-year-old go off alone. Taako would protect him if they were -- _gods forbid_ \-- attacked.

...right?

No, he definitely would.

Right? She doesn't know how much of Taako has been erased; he's not as bad off as Davenport, that much is clear but from the updates they've gotten from Angus he's all self preservation, none of the-- the love and gentle affection he so tried to hide pre-erasure.

A hand falls onto Lup's and she startles, flinching before she remembers who it is. She turns her head and smiles at Barry, who looks just as tired and worried as she. He has his glasses perched on the top of his head, and his robe lays over a chest against the wall. Lup's heart hammers in her chest when she sees it and (not for the first time since reaching this particular cave) wonders if they should move it farther inside, maybe put a better curse on it for security.

"Any updates from Angus?"

"None. He said they were about an hour and a half out last time he wrote, but that was almost two and a half hours ago." She murmurs, flipping their half of the charmed books open and frowning. Still nothing. Barry frowns as well.

"Maybe they decided to take a break? You know Taako. And he did mention that Magnus and Merle were following them." Barry says, offering that despite the fact that he looks just as worried. After all, it's an eleven-year-old and _their_ _Taako_ out there.

"Right. Right, I need to stop worrying."

"They'll be here soon, and we'll have him back." Barry squeezes Lup's hand as he talks, and his touch helps ground her as she takes a deep breath. "Soon, if our plan works out, we'll have everyone."

"I wish we could've gotten Magnus, Merle, and Davenport too. But it's too risky to try and take the king, and Magnus will swear fealty to him even if he's a- a _vegetable_." Lup shudders. She'd seen Davenport during castle events, cleverly disguised just in case Lucretia had people looking for her or Barry; at the ball -- _Taako's_ ball-- she'd been able to get rather close, since Taako had snuck out it was easy to mistake her for the prince, even in the dress.

"We'll get them back. All of them-- before the hunger comes."

"Before the hunger comes." She nods.

The hunger. Right.

Lucretia has the bulwark staff, and from some recon they'd done around Faerun they can conclude she has Taako's stone as well. Lup's gauntlet is sealed in Wave Echo cave a handful of miles away, and they'd procured Davenport and Barry's as well-- Barry's was a bitch to deal with, as they had to dispatch a set of liches to obtain it, but it's out of the sights of the public.

For now.

Davenport's had been a complete accident, they were on a train back from an underground auction in Rockport and there was a murder. Luckily, there was a rather smart boy detective to help solve the case and stop the train before it collided with the end of the line. The relic was easy to secure, that being said, once it was all said and done. The most difficult part of that was trying to get Angus off their case and even then it's

The only ones unaccounted for are Merle's sash and Magnus' cup; though not for lack of trying. They can't find the sash, and while they know where the cup is it's too risky to go get.

Again, Lup eyes the chest. If the relics are close enough together, even only two of them could bring the hunger's scouts and set off the timer. They're going to have to find somewhere to put the relics until they can set their plan in action, but there's really nowhere to put them safely. For now, they're each in their own individual force field to hopefully keep the different parts of the Light from interacting, along with some various personal items they want to keep locked up; a couple of photographs, their favorite record they'd stolen off of the starblaster, the keys to their bedroom on the ship, the broken remnants of the first umbrastaff. Another, equally cursed, chest holds belongings like clothing and cooking items. 

Then there's the-- the vial.

That's what Lup is most worried about keeping locked up. The vial. If anyone were to get into that, to drink the last of their rations, then it would be-- the end of the world. Literally. If Lup and Barry don't remember, then Lucretia will surely damn Faerun and their entire family. They need to keep the vial safe, so they can give it to their family and make them remember.

"...okay, I can't take it. I'm going to find them!"

Barry's hand finds the hood of her robe and pulls her back, the other grabbing her new umbrastaff and pulling it from her hand. "Absolutely not. With all those people out looking for us right now? You look exactly like Taako!"

"But--" Barry levels Lup with a glare and she pouts, but sits at her desk despite her itching to just _go_. "If they aren't here in another half an hour, we're both going. Got it?"

Barry nods. "Got it."

-

Team sweet flips is the first to arrive back to the castle. They'd finished their route early in the morning and returned by noon, with no sign of who they're looking for-- which is a big disappointment, really. Lucretia doesn't know whether or not to be relieved at that fact; Taako is still out there, and if Avi's report of the incident is true then he's suspicious of the castle and that...that won't be good. Would she rather have Taako plotting something with Lup and Barry, or safe in the castle snooping around?

_Gods_. Not for the first time, she wishes things were simpler.

Nodding at the guards stationed in front of Davenport's office, she lets herself inside and deflates as soon as the door closes. She slumps into a chair and buries her head in her hands, taking a deep shuddering breath. The other search parties will be arriving soon, and she'll need to prepare to be briefed by them. She should--

"Davenport?" A hand falls onto Lucretia's shoulder and she flinches, lifting her head. Davenport looks up at her, concern in his eyes, and she forces a smile. Even with his memory wiped he seems to know she's faking it and he frowns, turning away. Lucretia's face drops and she watches him with her own frown as he goes to his desk and pours a cup of tea from the kettle he'd been delivered earlier in the morning. She expects him to sit down and drink his tea, but instead he comes back and offers up the up.

Lucretia is so surprised she can't help but tear up and she smiles fondly at Davenport. Taking the cup, she takes a sip and just lets herself relax a moment. Things are coming soon, and she's going to have to figure out something now that over half of her family is currently unaccounted for.

A knock on the door brings her back and she stands, answering it to find some nameless palace guard looking nervous. Must be his first trip to this part of the castle. "Uh- h- hello, Madame Director. Sir Boyland and his crew have returned, and are ready to debrief."

"No sign of the prince?"

"No ma'am."

"Right. I'll, uh-- send them to my office, I'll be right there." She says. The guard nods and rushes off, but not without bowing first. Once he's gone, she closes the door again and looks outside. It'll ge getting dark soon, she should call back everyone who's still out. Then she'll go meet with Boyland and get debriefed. When that's done, she'll come back to do some paperwork until the next search party comes in.

Then rinse, repeat.

-

By time the kitchens begin to start on dinner, every search party is back at the castle. Save for one, which one is no surprise-- when Magnus sets his mind to something, he'll get it done. And it seems as though he's set his mind to making it to Phandalin and back.

Lucretia pulls out her stone of farspeech and dials it to Magnus' frequency instead of the group frequency she'd been using to contact everyone.

"Magnus?" There's no response and Lucretia frowns. "Magnus? Come in."

Nothing. She switches to Julia's frequency.

"Julia? Is everything alright?"

Again, nothing. She tries Merle, with the same result. They can't possibly be asleep right now, it's barely turning dusk. Perhaps they're taking statements from people and can't respond?

"Magnus, Merle, Julia come in. Hello?"

Finally, something from the other end-- muffled, and confusing.

_"...it. For...we had th...on..."_

"Magnus? Was that you? Where are you three? You were-- you were supposed to be back at the castle hours ago."

There's a pregnant pause, and then a muffled _"Just fucking give them to him, idiots,"_ from the stone and Lucretia frowns. She isn't entirely sure she'd heard right. Was that Taako?

She hears muffled conversation and this time can't make out what's being said. Then, the radio static from the other end is interrupted by a loud crack and then-- nothing. _Nothing_. 

"Magnus? Merle? Julia? Come in. Repeat, come in. What's going on?"

Well, shit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to THB & Angus and Julia next chapter 🔥 comments help me keep motivated to keep this up so if you're feelin' nice:


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The palace guard hesitates, while Lup and Barry prepare for their guests. Though, they get a few more than they'd planned for.

“We’re _not_ healing him, Magnus. He kidnapped the prince! He’s stable, we can transport him to the castle, and he can be healed then. But _not now_.” 

“But Jules, he’s just a kid!” 

“I know. I _know_ , but he’s clearly dangerous!” 

“Isn’t it up to me, being the healer?” 

_“NO!”_

Bickering is the first thing Taako hears when he wakes up, and-- fuck. This isn’t good. His entire body is sore, and his head aches as he opens his eyes. The sun shines far too brightly, and Taako groans as he sits up. 

“Prince Taako? Prince Taako, thank goodness you’re awake!” 

"Yeah, yeah," Taako grumbles, rubbing his head. He's dazed and confused, but he can recognize Magnus' ugly fucking sideburns easily enough as the knight kneels at his side. He looks like he'd also taken a few good hits in offing the assholes who knocked him out, and _good_. He and Angus had gotten their asses kicked too, and Magnus and fucking Merle could too. It's only fair-- Julia's cool, though.

Speaking of Angus...

"Where's the-- the kid?"

"Huh?"

" _The kid_. Angus. I got knocked out on 'im, kinda rude of me not to check up." Taako gives a crooked grin, eyes searching for Angus. They find a crumbled heap on the ground, slightly smoldering, breathing _very_ ragged. A small gasp slips involuntarily from his lips and he gets to his feet despite Magnus' protests. "What the hell, guys? You're not gonna heal him?"

"He _kidnapped_ you, Taa--"

"He's _eleven_! He couldn't do shit to me if he _wanted_." Taako snaps. He searches through his bag and can't find anything to make a healing potion. "Merle. C'mon, buddy. Heal the kid."

Merle looks between Taako, Magnus and Julia with a scrunched up face. "Alright, this is stupid. I'm healing him, guys."

"Fine. But we're tying him up and heading straight to the castle."

"Yeah, uh, like hell we're doing that." Taako says, crossing his arms and glaring up at Julia. "I thought you were cool, man. Even if he wasn't a _literal child_ , that's just cold."

Merle kneels next to Taako and Angus and sets to preparing a healing spell. "Yeah, guys, kinda a dick move."

"And, uh, yeah. We're not going to the castle, either. I don't fucking trust Madame Director right now. What the hell kind of person arrests an eleven year old for trespassing?"

" _You can't be serious_."

"This would be so much easier if I was joking." Taako mutters under his breath. "Look-- the kid knows more than I do, and if I left and took him willingly neither of us can get in trouble."

"What are you talking about?" Julia asks, frustrated and confused. Magnus places a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her.

"I'm _saying_ ," taako says, "That I'm the fucking one that let him out. Once he's healed, we're leaving. You can come with or head back to the castle, but you aren't changing my mind."

"Taako..." Magnus says with a frown. He looks conflicted. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm not leaving you alone. Jules, Merle?"

Julia frowns deeply, and Merle seems to hesitate, but they both nod slowly. "...alright."

"He has some explaining to do."

Angus is waking up now, and he coughs weakly as he pushes himself up. Reaching for his throat, he wheezes a bit before Merle offers him his waterskin and he takes a grateful drink. He pants, breathless, after he swallows the water. 

"How ya doin' kid? That mage asshole was way too high a level for you two t' handle." Merle asks as he takes his waterskin back. Angus nods.

"I- I'm fine, sir, thank you. A bit of smoke got in my lungs. Thank you for the heal."

"Anytime," Merle says, and at the same time Magnus and Taako both scoff and say _"yeah right."_

Taako frowns. Magnus blinks, confused. Weird. Why did they both say that? What? Julia and Angus look confused as well, but don't bring it up. Taako can see Angus making a mental note of the moment, however. Whatever.

Taako stands and turns away from a soot-covered Angus. "Alright, well. Hope you can still walk, bubulah, because we need to head out. It'll be dark soon and we need to get to that cave."

"W- We're not in trouble?.. We're got going to the castle?" Angus asks, and _oof_. His voice is really rough. Maybe he shouldn't talk much. 

"No, pumpkin, they're coming with us. You think you can tell us where we're going?" 

"R- Right! We're almost there, see those caves up there? They're hidden somewhere behind that cluster." Angus says, pointing over to a small gathering of caves just at the edge of their sight line.

It looks like if they were to walk it would take an hour, but by horse it should take half that, maybe even twenty minutes. Magnus seems to get the same idea, and he rounds up their horses. Merle hops up on his, and Julia on hers. Magnus helps Angus up on one, and then lifts Taako --who gasps and flails his arms in protest-- and places him on the same horse.

"Alright, you tell us where we're going. I'll lead. Merle, you follow from behind." Magnus says, taking charge as he climbs onto Julia's horse behind her. Taako rolls his eyes as Angus nods nervously.

"R- Right. Just head towards those caves, I'll be able to give better direction then..."

-

"Babe, am I dressed appropriately? Do you think-- do you think it's inappropriate to wear these?"

Lup lifts her head and looks at Barry, who shuffles nervously in front of her in his robe. He'd slipped it back on as the sun began to drop and the weather began to chill. Lup smiles, standing.

"Barry, it's fine. He won't remember, and even if he did, it's no big deal. He'd probably want his." She reaches up and cups his face, and she's still shaking a bit but that's fine. She's fine. "Now, it's almost dinner time. Why don't we start some stew for when they--"

An alarm, sharp and loud and terrifying blares throughout the cave, signalling someone's too close, and almost immediately Lup is in a defensive stance, grabbing her new and improved umbrastaff. Barry draws his wand, too, but puts a hand out before Lup can rush out. He dispells the magic creating the alarm and sighs. "I'll go look. It might just be Angus and Taako. You stay here."

"But--"

"If it's not them, it'll be a disaster if someone gets to our stuff. I'll be right back. Promise."

Lup sighs, pouting. "Alright..."

With that, Barry pulls his robe closer to his body and steps out of their safehaven. He moves through the cave system with an expert's ease and just as he's about to reach Wave Echo cave he spots them. _His family_. Relief floods Barry as he sees not only Angus and Taako, but _Magnus and Merle_ as well, and he's running before he can even think.

Of course, when an arrow flies past his head almost piercing his skull, then he thinks.

Ducking behind a large rock, he raises a hand and waves, calling out "Angus! Angus, it's me! Barry!"

There's a pause, and then a quiet voice calls out, "Sir? Is it really you? Where's miss Lup?"

"She's back in the cave, I'm the welcoming committee! Can you tell your friends there not to shoot?"

"Uh, yeah! Sorry!" Barry pops his head back out, finds the woman -- _woman?_ \-- who shot at him lowering a bow with a sheepish look on het face. They approach, and Barry takes in the sight. Everyone looks...well, beat to hell. But beyond that, they look-- they look older.

Taako, not by much, but he looks surprisingly small for his age, with a defensive look in his eyes as he rides behind Angus. Magnus has more scars, and his sideburns are longer, but otherwise no worse for wear. _Merle_ , though--

Merle's entire _arm_ is missing, replaced by a wooden prosthetic that looks to be of Magnus' creation, perhaps. He has a nasty scar across his face that looks like it's been healed over and over again with no success at reducing its size.

_What the hell happened to them?.._

Once the party is five feet from him, they dismount clumsily and Angus approaches. "Hello, sir! I'm sorry I didn't inform you of this new development. The castle guard discovered us after we were ambushed by some criminals and insisted the only way we could come is if they came with, I'm so--"

"Angus, this is the biggest blessing in disguise, you don't even know. You alright, though? Someone attacked you?"

"Damn right they did, and ch'aboy isn't happy about it! Knocked me down in two spells," Taako pipes in from behind Angus. "So you and the lady'd better have a good explanation as to why I risked my beautiful hide for this, or I'm gonna be mad."

"We do, I swear! You just need to-- to listen to us and try not to hurt yourself too much overthinking about it. Okay? All of you. Merle, Magnus, uh-- I don't know who you are, sorry." Barry promises, looking at the woman, who looks confused and concerned that he knows who Merle and Magnus are. She doesn't offer a hand to shake, just crosses her arms over her chest.

"Julia. And the second something weird happens, the prince is out of here with us. Got it?"

"Of course. We don't want him --or you all-- hurt. In fact, you can go home whenever you want. We just want to talk, and Angus to be pardoned of his crimes. None of this is his fault."

"We'll talk about that later. Can we just go to your spooky death cave or whatever? I'm freezing." Taako says flippantly, and Barry smiles fondly.

"Yeah, yeah. Follow me, everyone. We'll have to park the horses a bit away from the cave, but we've got a great place to hide 'em."

Julia looks to want to protest, but upon seeing the amount of climbing they'll have to do agrees and they leave the horses in a well-hidden stable that looks to have been abandoned a long while ago. It's silent as they follow Barry, and be tries not to feel offended they aren't talking with him like old friends. _They don't remember, they don't remember, they don't remem--_

_"Magnus?"_ Lucretia's tinny voice comes from a single stone of farspeech and the entire party freezes. _"Magnus? Come in."_

Barry's hand flies to his mouth and he makes a shushing motion. Nobody says anything. The voice comes from another stone.

_"Julia? Is everything alright?"_

Then Merle's.

_"Merle? Magnus, Merle, Julia come in. Hello?"_

"Shit. Forgot we had these on." Magnus murmurs, and Barry gives him a look.

Magnus seems to immediately recognize his mistake as Lucretia begins to speak again, _"Magnus? Was that you? Where are you three? You were-- you were supposed to be back at the castle hours ago."_

Barry holds out his hands now, and whispers, "give them to me."

The three members of the palace guard look at his hand, then amongst themselves, and Taako muffles an annoyed groan with his hand.

"Just fucking give them to him, idiots!" He says, and that seems to snap them out of it.

Slowly, they drop their stones in Barry's hand. As soon as he has all three of them, his hand catches fire and incinerates them in an instant. Julia, Magnus and Merle watch in shock as their stones are turned to ash, but Barry can see the magic intrigue in Taako's eyes as the spell. Nerd.

It's clear now that Barry --and by extension, Lup, even though they haven't re-met her just yet-- could easily kill them all without worry and there's a collective shiver amongst the group. It breaks Barry's heart that they don't instinctively know they'd never hurt them, but he pushes that down as he smiles at them nonthreateningly.

"There. We don't have to worry about her. We're almost there, now, keep up."

-

Taako's going through a lot right now. He's pretty emotionally numb, just trying to survive this. He's starting to actually question his loyalty to the kid as his employer -- _Barry_ \-- burns the stones of farspeech, but he's committed now. No time to regret. No time to _feel_ regret, at least.

So the sudden rush of emotions just at hearing someone's voice is rather startling.

They're entering a cave mouth, finally at the _right_ one now, and Barry calls out. A voice calls back, a woman's, and Taako freezes in place. Tears pool in his eyes and he blinks them back, confused. What the fuck?

"Lup, I found out the reason they were late! We're gonna need more bowls!"

"What? Who else is with them?"

Taako's eyes scan the cave and widen when he sees her. _Lup._ She enters their sight lines, wearing the same bright crimson robe Barry is, and she gasps when she sees them all. Even from ten yards away he can see tears actively streaking her cheeks as she rushes forward, and Barry ducks off to the side to talk with her. Taako watches intently, his heart hammering in his chest.

She looks just like him. The same nose, the same hair, the same eyes. He remembers this from the ball. He shouldn't be so surprised, but he is. From the few words he's heard her say, she even has the same accent as him.

"Do you know these people, prince Taako?" Magnus asks, voice low, and Taako blinks up at him.

"Huh?"

"You're crying. Do you know them?"

"No? And I'm not cry--" he reaches up and feels wet on his cheeks. "...ing. That's weird."

"Alright! I've got some stew on the fire, we'll be able to eat here in a few." Lup's voice pipes up again, addressing everyone. "We weren't expecting so many people. Magnus, Merle...and Julia, right?"

"Right." Julia says. Her eyes strain a bit in the dim light of the cave, and Lup gasps.

"Oh! Right! Barry, can you light a few more torches? We've got two humans in here who don't have darkvision."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Magnus, buddy, wanna help?"

"I...guess?.." Magnus moves deeper to the cave, following Barry.

"I'm not entirely comfortable with all of this..." Julia murmurs, hesitating now that everyone seems to be scattering deeper into the cave. Merle's found a spot next to the fire, while Taako peeks into the cauldron heating up a thick mushroom stew.

"I know this all sounds fishy, but we'll explain just as soon as we're all sitting down." Lup says.

Barry chimes in, "It's best if you're all sitting anyway-- it's going to be...a lot. Here in the next few minutes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh
> 
> Next chapter: Lup and Barry explain everything. The hesitance THB felt lightens when they start hearing static. 
> 
> Comments/kudos are very appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup and Barry try their best to explain, but is the headache really worth it?

Stew acquired --poured into bowls transmuted from some rocks they'd found around the cave, because Lup and Barry have been alone so long they only owned four bowls-- the group settle around the fire to eat. Despite how standoffish they were before, the castle search party seem to be enjoying the food. Lup watches nervously as Taako eats, looking for any signs of recognition in his eyes. He doesn't seem to have any connection to the recipe and maybe that's for the best. Or, at least, he doesn't comment if he remembers it.

"So." Lup starts. All eyes fall on her, and _yikes_. There's a lot of fucking tension. "You all deserve a bit of an explanation."

"Riiight." Taako drawls. "I think I deffo deserve it, considering I was kidnapped."

"...You left voluntarily, sir..." Angus murmurs, frowning, and Taako hums.

"Yes, yes, but according to the castle I was kidnapped. Very traumatic. _Terrifying_." Taako swoons, leaning against Magnus' shoulder and nearly toppling the both of them off their seats and spilling their stew in the process. Magnus laughs a bit and gently elbows Taako off of him.

"You enjoy being the damsel, don't you? Did you plan this whole thing?" Magnus asks, teasing.

Lup can't help but laugh and she looks over at Barry who also has a fond smile on his face. "Don't worry, Taako, we would've told you even without getting kidnapped. You deserve to know the truth. _All of you_ do."

"Yeah, speaking of, how the hell exactly do you know our names? None of us introduced ourselves, and you immediately knew Merle and I." Magnus pipes up once the giggling ends. "Julia's the only one you didn't know."

Lup sucks in a breath at the same time as Barry, and they share a look.

"Well..."

"Guess that's good as any place to start." Barry shrugs. He sets his bowl down, knowing full well it'll get cold if he doesn’t pick it up again soon but also knowing his wife uses fire magic. He takes a deep breath and starts, "We know you guy's names because we know each other. Or-- _knew_ each other. Once, a-- a long time ago."

"There was something-- we were all part of an institution that looked into planar resear--"

"Wait wait wait, stop! What the hell was that?"

Lup blinks. Barry frowns. "What?"

"That, right there," Taako says. His eyes are wide with fright and shock that he can’t even hide. "Your mouth moved but what just came out of your mouth was nooot a language I know."

"Static already? Damn, this is gonna be a lot harder than I thought."

"What?"

"Th- That's the language barrier I was telling you about, sir," Angus pipes up from his spot. Taako looks at him and frowns.

"Hey, thugs, uh-- what the hell is that? That...static shit?"

"It's complicated. Lucretia has something keeping us from being able to communicate fully." Lup says. "We're gonna try our best to word things in ways you can understand, but let us know if you can't understand some stuff, okay?"

The group nods, and Barry takes a deep breath. 

"Okay, so. Back to it, uh...we all knew each other, and I know it's hard to believe, but it's true."

"If it's true, what's my--"

"Your middle name is Hightower on forms, but no one really knows what your real one is." Comes the response to Merle's interruption, and they all look at Lup in shock. "Magnus, despite all of the weapons you know how to use, you carry your grandfather's knife on you at all times. It's kinda sappy but you're that kinda guy, aren't you?

"Merle, you have a weird plant kink, we don't like to talk about it. Taako, you're allergic to peanut butter but will keep a fantasy epipen on you just to be able to eat a peanut butter cookie."

Barry clears his throat at the awed stares they're getting. "Believe us now?"

-

"...so, anyway, with all that out of the way...there's something coming. Something bad. And we're trying to stop it, but Lucretia won't let us--"

"This isn't to say she's allowing t̵̫̂ḥ̶͊̒e̸̙͓͂͘ ̴̞͑͝h̵̻̀͜ú̶̞̭ñ̸̡̿g̸̭̓ë̵̘͎́r̴̜̯̔͋ to come, she's just making misguided decisions that are actually damning us, in the end."

"Right."

Magnus' head is swirling.

These two strangers speak in words he can't fully comprehend, and it's so fucking _weird_. He's trying to make sense of things, and just...isn't. He _can't_ \-- thinking about it hurts his head.

"But we can't let her do what she's planning. Her plan would-- would damn this plane.” Barry says, his voice cracking, and Magnus frowns. 

“How do you know that?” 

Barry sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “ _Because_ , Magnus, the r̷͍̍͑e̵̖̱̐̂l̸̤͇̆͝i̴͠ͅc̷̮̀͝s̴̮̽ are the only way to prevent t̵̫̂ḥ̶͊̒e̸̙͓͂͘ ̴̞͑͝h̵̻̀͜ú̶̞̭ñ̸̡̿g̸̭̓ë̵̘͎́r̴̜̯̔͋ from coming and d̷̟͗e̷̢͋̎s̴̛̻̩̈́t̴̝́͝r̷͈̭̾o̵̱͛y̷̧͙̿͐ì̴̧n̴̡̏g̷̭̜̋ ̸̙̯̌͠t̵̠̄h̸͎͝i̶̹͊͘s̷̢̈͋ ̷̬̐p̵̪̈l̵̪̦̎͊a̸̬̾n̸̼̎e̴̩̬̕. We’ve tried other ways, but there isn’t any other way. Lucretia w̸̗͆ả̶̲n̷̺͗t̷̯̚s̴̻̏ ̴̝͐f̵̮̂o̸ͅr̷̺͗m̷̧̛ ̸̨͐a̷̠̿ ̶̜̔f̵̘̌o̵̡͛r̶̤͆c̶̠̍e̵̡ ̶͍̍f̶̭͒i̸̡͑ë̶̙l̸̹̂d̴̦ ̴̫̔ạ̴̑ȑ̴ͅo̵̘ṵ̸̋n̸͎̚ḋ̴̻ ̴̣̐t̴̠͠h̴̹͑i̷̦̅s̷̮̽ ̷͖ṗ̵̗ḷ̴̊ā̸͖n̶̗̉e̸̩͆ ̵̱̒a̶̧̍n̴̮̄ḓ̷̃--” 

“Okay, okay, fuck ooooff,” Taako groans, head in his hands, and Magnus reaches a hand over to his shoulder, concerned. “This is giving me a fucking headache. Can someone _please_ summarize this shit without the static?” 

“I can, uh-- I can,” The kid squeaks. He clears his throat, and stands. “From what we can understand from miss Lup and mister Barry, you guys minus miss Julia knew who they were before Madame Director used something to wipe everyone’s memories. There is something coming that would kill us all, and as the world is right now it won’t but Madame Director wants to use a different method for some reason but it’s not going to work, and so miss Lup and mister Barry are trying to collect the artifacts before her but with relatively little success.

“Miss Lup and mister Barry are also liches, but not evil ones, and have died on multiple occasions. They tried to find prince Taako while he was on tour with Sizzle it Up but it ended so abruptly and he went off the grid before they could. They also looked for you, mister Merle and Magnus, but couldn’t find you. Is this all correct?” 

“Yes, thank you Angus.” Lup says, standing as well. “I’d like to say we need your help with the artifacts, but it’s too dangerous. When I showed up at Taako’s ball, it was merely an act of desperation, to just get to talk to him. Once I saw him I couldn’t just-- I needed to bring him home, and maybe that was a bad idea. It got Angus into a lot more trouble, and I'm really sorry for that, Angus.” 

"It's no problem, miss Lup. This is one of the best cases I've worked." 

Taako clears his throat and speaks up, “We didn’t, like... _date_ or anything, right? Because that sounds really weird, and like we dated or something like that and uh-- I don’t _think_ we did, I’m not into girls, but maybe if I had my memory wiped..?” 

“What? God, no!” Lup barks out a laugh. “No, we didn’t date. Taako, have you _seen_ me? We’re _t̷̆͜w̷͇̐i̸͖̕ṋ̵͌s̷̹̾_!” 

“Yeah, sis, I didn’t get that at all. We’re what?” 

There’s a logical assumption as to what Lup is saying, looking at both of the elves, but Magnus’ brain does a skip over whatever that assumption is and he frowns rubbing at his temples. _What the hell is this?_ While this is going on, Julia’s hand gently slips over his shoulder, and he looks up at her confused face with a reassuring smile. 

“You good?” She murmurs lowly, raising an eyebrow at him. He nods. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. This is a lot, but I-- I trust them? I know it’s weird, but they’ve got some undeniable evidence, and I...I feel like I should trust them.” 

“Yeah, I-- I was skeptical, at first, but...this is weird. Like, _really weird_ , Magnus.” 

“Right.” This is just...all way too much all at once. His head won’t stop spinning, and the static is just getting louder by the minute. 

Taako fake yawns loudly at something Barry says, and Magnus lifts his head. “Booooring! Speak common, nerd.” 

Barry sputters, his cheeks burning, and Taako and Merle high-five, laughing. 

“Guys, this is serious!” Barry says. “Lucretia is hiding something from us, from _you guys_. It _has_ to be in the castle somewhere, and if you drink from the tank, you’ll be able to remember.” 

“That is, if you go back to the castle. Which, as much as we would love to keep you guys home with us, I would suggest you do. This lifestyle is so, so dangerous. And you guys can’t come back if you’re dead.” 

“... _Well_ \--” 

“We aren’t necromancing our family, _Barold_.” Lup snaps, and Taako snorts. 

“You called him Barold! Nice!” He holds up a mage hand and Lup conjures her own, high-fiving his with it. 

“We just...wanted you guys to know what’s happening. And we understand if you want to go back. We won't stop you if you do, and we'll even bring you back.” 

“...Do you _want_ to go back?” 

-

“...Do you _want_ to go back?” 

Taako thinks over that question for a long moment. He can feel Magnus’ eyes on him, and he frowns. _Does he?_ He doesn’t honestly know anymore. 

Magnus speaks up first. “I...If I go back, I want to know what’s going on. Will Madame Director tell us, if we ask? Y’know, if we-- if we tell her we know she’s hiding things from us, and demand answers?” 

“I...I honestly doubt it.” Sighs Barry. He looks so tired, and something about that looks familiar to Taako in a way he isn’t entirely sure why but what else is new. 

“Lucretia’s changed so, so much in the last ten years. Who knows what her reaction would be?” 

“...I have a better suggestion,” Taako crosses his arms, defiant. “How do we get back what you need, without getting caught?” 

There’s a shocked moment of silence before Lup grins, eyes flashing wildly. 

“Now that’s what I like to hear.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! This chapter was hard to write, as it's mainly dialogue. I cut out a lot of the explanations bc it was just kinda awkward? Sorry if you were looking forward to all the static and confusion. 
> 
> Comments/kudos make me smile! Next chapter: A castle POV


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucretia turns to her inner circle, the only ones she trusts to watch Davenport while she takes matters into her own hands again to find her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter was kinda boring, with all the explanations, and this one might be too, sorry! I'm trying to keep it interesting, promise.

Panic swirls deep in Lucretia’s stomach as soon as her stone goes silent, and she clutches it close to her chest as she tries to control her breathing. She’s glad she’s sitting down, because if she’d been standing her knees would have buckled and she would be on the ground right now. She runs a hand over her face. 

_Okay. Deep breaths, Lucretia. In...Out...In...Ou--_

“Oh, fuck this.” 

Standing up, her robe swishing against the floor. She storms out of her office, but as soon as she’s out in the halls of the castle she calms down a bit and schools her face as much as she can in her anger. She needs to-- She’s not dealing with this anymore. She's going to get everyone back on her own, if she has to, but luckily there's a group she knows will do as she needs. 

Luckily, she finds who she wants relatively easy. 

“Johann, hello. Do you have a minute?” 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I suppose,” Johann turns away from Avi, who waves at them and heads into the large dining room on his own. She gives him a smile, and Johann only halfway reciprocates. “What’s up?” 

“Some things have come up, and uh-- I’m going to need you to take over my duties tomorrow. I’ll try to be back as soon as possible, no later than two days, but you’re the only one that I trust with the documents in my office.” Lucretia says. She keeps her voice low as other castle staff enter the dining room for dinner. Johann’s face doesn’t outwardly shift, but she sees the surprise in his eyes. “Don’t worry about guard shack duty until I get back, just...make sure the king is tended to, run any meetings, feed the voidfish. Do you think you can handle it?” 

“...Yeah, I mean, I can do that. You’re putting a lot of pressure one me, but I guess...” Johann shrugs. Lucretia chuckles and shakes her head, reaching over and squeezing his shoulder. 

“I’ll figure out a way to repay you, Johann. Thank you. Tomorrow morning, report to my office, I’ll have a list of more detailed instructions for you there.” 

“Right. Can I, uh-- Can I go now?..” 

“Yes. Thank you again, and I’ll try to get back as soon as possible.” 

“Okay, cool. Peace,” Johann gives her deuces and turns back to head into the dining room. Lucretia watches as he finds Avi and Brian at a table in the corner before her eyes begin to search the now-full tables for someone else, but she doesn’t see who she’s looking for, and turns to leave the dining room with a sigh. 

She should just send them out alone, stay here where she knows she’ll be safe and she can keep an eye on Davenport, but she knows they wouldn’t stand a chance against Lup and Barry. With Lucretia with them, they might stand at least some chance. She could fight Lup and Barry herself while they get the prince and everyone away-- as long as they don't lich out on her, that is. She shudders at the thought. Would Lup and Barry kill her, if they got the chance?.. 

The idea of having to fight her family is sickening, but it has to be done. 

“Oh, hey, Madame Director!” 

Lucretia finds Killian and Carey where she thought they would be, sparring with Noelle in one of their training dojos near the rear guard station. They’re panting loudly, and look rough, as if they’ve been really going at it but they have bright grins on their face as she enters. 

“You doin’ good? You look rough.” Carey asks, giving a crooked, concerned smile. Lucretia forces a smile. 

“I’m fine, thank you, Carey. I’m, uh-- I’ve come with some bad news, and a...a request.” 

-

_“I need you four to accompany me to reclaim Magnus’ search party."  
_

Killian is starting to wonder why she agreed to this, as she trudges through yet another empty fucking cave looking for Magnus. He could be anywhere on this trail, or he could be completely somewhere else now, and they wouldn't know unless they searched under every fucking rock-- which is exactly what they're doing. The worried look on Madame Director's and Carey's faces tell her exactly why she agreed to this. Madame Director rarely looks this worried, and it's getting to everyone. She knows if anything were to happen to Magnus, it would break Carey's heart; she'd been the one to train him into the guard, and they were almost as close as Carey and Killian were. She didn't care much about the others, not even the prince, really, but Magnus was important to her. So they had to find the group. 

“Damn, I really thought he’d be in this one.” Carey mumbles, hopping back up onto her horse. Killian reaches over and squeezes her shoulder as she gets on her own. 

“I know he rushes in all the time, but surely not into _every_ cave,” Noelle says, and Killian scoffs. Surprisingly, Madame Director does too. 

“Oh, no, he deffo would.” Killian says. “He’s just stupid like that.” 

“Hey now, he’s still a royal guar-- Yeah, no, he definitely is.” Madame Director has a fond smile on her face as she can't even defend Magnus, and Team Sweet Flips laughs loudly. 

It’s been a long day. They’ve been searching since early in the morning-- every trail and track, every cave, anywhere they think their rescuees may be hidden. They’re close to Phandalin, now, where Magnus should have turned around when Madame Director called him in but can’t find anything. They walk a little while longer, before deciding to call it a night. Sunset is coming soon and they set up camp just off of the trail. Madame Director seems surprisingly in her element as she sets up her bedroll, and Killian watches curiously.

Noelle and Carey had gone off to collect kindling for a fire, and so they’re alone. 

“Hey, Madame Director...I know you weren’t royal director your whole life, but uh...What did you do before this?” 

“Huh? Oh, you know. I was working to collect the relics for the king before being promoted up the castle chain,” Madame Director shrugs. Killian hums. “Admittedly, this is not how I saw my career going. But I am quite content; as soon as everyone is home again, I will be even more content.” 

“Yeah, this thing isn’t really your thing, so I figure you’re ready to get back to the castle, huh?” 

“Yes, I am quite ready to get this done with. The prince has always been a bit of a rebel, but this is really unlike him.” 

“Right...” Killian says. She clears her throat and asks something she’s been thinking about since the prince went missing. “What if...they don’t want to come back? I mean-- Avi said-- He said the prince was the one who cast sleep, and now this...” 

“Your worry is...understandable, Killian. But please trust me when I say the prince needs to think about his actions more than just leaving with someone we had in the brig. He can leave if he so wants, but at least telling us would make better sense in securing his safety.” Madame director says. “It’s for his own safety.” 

She nods along slowly as Carey and Noelle come back, kindling acquired. “Well, I’m sure we’ll find ‘em tomorrow. Don't you worry too much, Madame Director.” 

Madame Director smiles at herd. “I hope so, Killian. I hope so.” 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a few changes in the plan before it can even be put in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! Another chapter! Updates are probably gonna move to weekly, maybe twice weekly if I can.

They fall asleep around the fire. Julia and Magnus curl up against each other, as the cave is cold, and Taako shivers like crazy as he tries and fails to fall asleep himself. Not for the first time, he feels a bit jealous of the two for having someone to cuddle with. Angus seems fine, curled up under a spare blanket Lup and Barry had-- not that he should feel worried about the kid anymore, he's not Taako's problem anymore. Merle is sawing logs next to him, his snoring loud enough to echo a bit in the cave. 

The only other people not asleep right now are Lup and Barry, who are sitting at the edge of the cave talking in low tones so as to not wake the others. They have a plan to finish tomorrow, and then they’ll send them all back to the castle. If everything goes right, they should be able to do what Lup and Barry need within the week. 

Frustrated, Taako rolls over onto his back and glares up at the roof of the cave. A handful of stalactites hang eerily above, and he has to close his eyes and cover his head before he gets too paranoid. He still isn’t able to sleep, but he doesn’t want to meditate either. He trusts these guys, but not enough to be _that_ vulnerable. It’s frustrating as hell, because he can fall asleep anywhere, but he just _can’t_. 

“What if it doesn’t work, Barry?” 

“We just have to trust that it will.” 

“This has to end soon. It _has_ to. This has to be hurting Lucretia just as much as it’s hurting us. Hurting _them_.” 

It’s silent a moment and Taako turns to his side, peering over to Lup and Barry, sees them in an embrace. Lup seems to be shaking, that Taako can tell even in the dark. Something in Taako’s heart sinks, and he sucks in a breath. Why does seeing this stranger crying make him feel so bad? He doesn’t understand. Will he _ever_ understand? When this plan goes through, will he understand? 

Something in his mind tells him to go over, to comfort her. She shouldn't be crying. 

Instead, he rolls over, and calls “Get a room!” over his shoulder. 

There’s a moment of silence before he hears Barry’s indignant squawk and Taako smirks as he closes his eyes. It takes him another few minutes to fall asleep, but when he does it’s with a smile on his face. 

-

“–So Lucretia should have some sort of hidden office in the castle. I would look behind paintings and bookshelves in her office, maybe Davenport’s, if you can…” Barry says, running over the plan with the group. “Wherever she spends most of her time. There’s going to be a tank in there somewhere, and you’re going to want to drink out of it.” 

“Don’t think too hard about it, okay? Just dip your water skin in it and drink. It’ll hurt, both physically and emotionally probably. I’m sorry we can’t be with you when it happens, but…there’s no chance that can happen. And we need to find somewhere for Angus to go…” 

“But you’ll know everything soon. And guys– I can’t stress this enough, once– once you know everything again, you _can’t_ make a fuss around the castle. Don’t fight Lucretia, don’t–” 

An alarm sounds loudly throughout the whole cave, startling them. Lup turns to Barry immediately, his eyes widening. They make eye contact and have a silent conversation as Magnus and Julia fly to their feet and to their bags to grab their weapons. Barry sighs. 

“Well, looks like we’re gonna have to make some adjustments to the plan.” 

“What is that? What’s going on?” Julia asks. Lup scrubs at her face, cursing under her breath. 

"Lucretia's here. Or someone from the castle, probably." 

"What?!" 

“It’s our alarm system. It means someone is too close, and I have a feeling they’re here for us.” Barry runs a hand through his hair, tugging at it slightly. “I– I can distract them. I– Lup, we can’t let them get the chest. You need to leave.” 

“Oh hell no, babe, I’m not letting you fight alone!” 

“Why don’t we all fight?” Magnus suggests, lifting his weapon again, and Lup shakes her head. 

“No. No, you can’t. The plan’ll be ruined then, and you’ll be thrown in the brig. Please, just– I don’t– I don’t know, Barry what do we do?” 

“W- We can pretend– I don’t know, that they’re prisoners?” 

“I have a teleport spell, but it’ll only work on one person. We have to get Angus out of here.” 

“Right. Start that one up, and quick.” 

"We'll have to knock her out to escape, probably." 

"Right, we'll figure that out in a minute!" Barry says, and then he’s rushing out of the cave. Lup feels dread pool in her stomach as he leaves, but she quickly shakes herself out of it when she sees the scared look in Angus’ eyes. _Fuck_ , this kid is in too deep now isn't he?

“You guys, you’re going to have to go back to the castle, but _need_ to have a reasonable response when they as you why you stayed here. Tell them that we threatened the prince if you didn’t stay–” 

A loud crash from outside makes Lup flinch, and she goes back to trying to focus on casting. She doesn’t technically have this spell, but she’s been alive for over a hundred and fifty years, so she’s allowed to have a few extra spells. After a few more moments, a portal opens up to Wave Echo cave, and Lup shoves the chest into it, as well as one of the regen pods; there isn’t time to shove both through, not with the fighting outside getting closer, and so Lup reaches over and grabs Angus, pulling him over. 

“W- Wait! Miss Lup, I–” 

“We’ll find you as soon as this is over, Ango, promise. But you can’t go back with Lucretia.” Lup makes herself level with Angus’ eyes, squeezing his shoulder. “Okay bud?” 

“I- I’m– I’m scared…” 

Lup gives him a tight smile as the fighting nears even closer. “I know you are. We’ll keep you safe, though. Now go, before it’s too late.” 

“Right..!” 

Angus hops through, and Lup watches the portal close before turning to the rest. 

“Alright everyone, this is– This is it, I guess. Remember the plan, and let Lucretia take you back to the castle, okay?” 

“So what’s– Are you serious? _That’s it?_ ” Taako asks. “You’re just gonna– gonna go? Where’re you going?” 

“I…I don’t know, yet. But Barry and I will find you when your memories come back. Okay?” 

Lup can see the panic on Taako’s face as something comes flying in front of the mouth of the cave, and she rushes to him, pulling him into a tight hug. Surprisingly, he hugs back tight. 

“Take care of yourself, Taako, okay?” 

“Duh. I’m not in this to die, like some people,” Taako snorts. Lup chuckles, tears springing in her eyes. “Hey, uh– When I remember…Am I going to remember you?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, you are. Now I’m gonna have to make you sleep, okay? For the act. I’m sorry.” 

“Do what you need. And, uh– hey, Lup?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I…I don’t know why, but I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

Lup casts sleep before she pulls away, laying Taako down on the ground and rushing out to join Barry. She turns and gets one last look at her family as she joins the fray. 

-

Barry’s alive. Barry’s _alive_. 

Lucretia had known, of course, but seeing him is still shocking. Where had he been while Lup infiltrated Taako’s ball? Was he there too? 

“Ba–” 

Lucretia sad to jump away and pull Carey out of the way as a spell is thrown their way, and hears Killian shouting _“What the fuck!?”_ as she dives out of the way as well. 

“You need to leave, Lucretia!” 

“Not without the prince and my royal guard members!” 

“How’s this asshole know your name, Madame Director? Wait a– Is this guy one of the red robes?!” Killian asks, drawing her crossbow. She doesn’t even wait for an answer, firing instead at Barry. The attack barely phases Barry, who ducks behind a rock before jumping back out right as Carey tries to run up, daggers in hand. Barry gets slashed with one before he’s able to throw himself out of the way, and curses as Lucretia goes to cast. Before she can, however, he reaches into his scabbard and pulls out a broadsword and swings. He stumbles as Killian pulls Carey out of the way, and rolls. Lucretia nods to the girls and rushes forwards. 

“Look into each cave until you see our guys, go in and grab them, and then get out. There should be another–” 

“ _Fuck_ , that hurt! How powerful is this guy?!” Killian shouts as she flies forward, hit by some sort of projectile from Barry. Lucretia turns and tries to cast a magic missile but the spell sputters out– she doesn’t want to hurt him. She– She can’t. Barry sees that she’s hesitating and pauses, opening his mouth to speak when flames erupt from the mouth of the cave they’re standing in front of. Killian and Carey are both caught up in the flames and fall prone as Lup emerges. 

Her eyes shine wildly as she stands, surrounded by flames, and Lucretia’s breath catches in her throat. She steps forward, stumbling, and reaches out. 

“Lup. Lup, I– Don’t do this, please. Where are they?” 

“Lucretia…I’ve forgiven you, but I’ll _never_ forget.” Lup says, her voice calm. Lucretia cringes. “You’re lucky it hurts to see Taako like this, or you'd never find us." 

“Where are they, Lup?” 

Lup nods inside, crossing her arms. “We’ll be taking our leave, now, ‘Creesh. Don’t follow us.” 

“I j– I just want to save us–!” Lucretia stutters, reaching out again, but Lup takes Barry’s hand and suddenly there’s a wall of flame between them. When it goes down, they’re gone. Lucretia doesn’t go after them. 

Killian and Carey lift themselves up, singed but otherwise fine. They immediately draw their weapons, looking around. “Where are the red robes? Did they take the prince with them?!” 

Lucretia shakes her head, suddenly very very tired. “The prince is in there. Don’t go looking for the red robes, they’re– they aren’t of our concern right now. Right now we need to get back to the castle.” 

"Right!" 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucretia tells the truth, but suspicion is still in the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. Ooof. Last week was rough, so I wasn't able to get anything out. I made this one almost 4,000 words as an apology for that. Sorry.

When Angus jumps through the portal, he stumbles to the ground and scrapes his knee. Confused and disoriented, he climbs back to his feet and takes in his surroundings. There’s the tank and chest miss Lup pushed through the portal before he went through, but other than that, there’s...nothing. Not really, anyway. It's just a cave. A regular old cave. 

The sound of water splashing against rock catches his attention. He should investigate, see if it’s freshwater so he can drink, but he doesn’t know if he’s supposed to leave the tank or chest alone or not. Something tells him he shouldn’t.

“Hello? Miss Lup? Mister Barry?” His voice echoes throughout the cave as he looks around, pushing up his glasses. Nothing. With a frown, he makes his way towards the chest and tries to lift it, but his arms strain and he's barely able to get it a foot off the ground before he can't hold it anymore; he sets it back down with a grunt and sighs. Okay, that’s not happening. He’s just a little boy, he can’t lift that. Maybe he can push it? Tentatively, he tries pushing, but can’t even push it an inch on the coarse rock floor. The tank is much heavier than the chest, too, so that would impossible. How did Lup and Barry do it? 

Oh right. Magic. Angus wishes he knew some right about now. Maybe he would’ve been a bit more help when Madame Director showed up. 

Sitting down, Angus leans against the locked chest and finds he hadn’t grabbed his bag before jumping through the portal. Which means he doesn’t have any of his belongings.

Which means he has no way of communicating with miss Lup or mister Barry about his whereabouts. Again.

Which means he’s totally, utterly -- and pardon his language -- fucked. 

-

When Taako wakes up, he’s draped over the neck of a horse, drool dripping from his mouth. He can hear Magnus, sitting behind him, recalling the fake story they came up with before the ambush. Groaning, he lifts his head, but not his whole body. He plays up his disorientation, though he doesn’t have to fake the fact that he’s not entirely happy that he was put to sleep. “Wha..?” 

“Hey there, your majesty! How’re you feeling?” 

“Fuck off, Merle...Where are we?” 

“Almost home, now,” Magnus says. “Madame Director found us.” 

“Right!” 

“Right...” Taako glares at Merle; he’s far too suspicious. Sitting up all the way up now, Taako sees he’s in the middle of the group. Killian and Karey ride next to each other in the front, Merle and Julia on either side of him and Magnus, and Lucretia rides behind them. “Thanks, Madame Director; these chucklefucks didn’t have much of a plan and I didn’t feel like dying in a fucking cave.” 

Lucretia looks up and gives him that fake smile she gives him often. “I got very concerned when everyone’s stones of farspeech disconnected. I’m glad we were able to find you.” 

“What even happened? Avi says you cast sleep on him and locked him in the closet.” Killian asks, sounding suspicious. Taako wants to positively die. This is going to be so much work keeping up the lie. Luckily he had something planned out for this question already. 

“I was outta my mind, man. Like one second I was fine and the next I had no control over my body and was breaking the kid outta jail.” He says. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, really? What the hell?” 

“Yeah, uh-- it must’ve been a spell or something. Didn’t come to until I was in that cave.” 

Magnus’ eyes widen like he’s surprised despite the fact that he’d been there when they made the plan as he says, “That’s crazy!” 

“That’s quite odd. We’re going to have to up our magic wards around the castle, if that’s the case.” Lucretia has a frown on her face, and she trails off as she looks ahead. They’re entering the outskirts of Neverwinter now, and the sun is long set. “When we get back, you all can head to your quarters, but I’ll need to talk to you in the morning.” 

“Yeah, sure, sounds good.” Taako grumbles, draping himself back over the neck of the horse. “I need to get some serious z’s, man, sleeping on a cave floor _suuucks_.” 

Magnus snorts behind him and Taako can hear the smile in Lucretia’s voice as she speaks, “We’ll be back to the castle in no time, your majesty. Just rest, for now.” 

“Right. Don’t get us almost killed again please, Magnus.” 

“Whatever you say.” 

When they get back to the castle, Taako is shaken awake and lifted from the horse by Magnus. He groans and buries his face in Magnus’ chest a moment before he realizes _woah that’s a bit too personal_ and he scrambles up and out of Magnus’ arms, falling to the ground. Merle’s laugh grates at his ears and he groans, rubbing at his head. 

“Fuck...We back?” 

“Yeah. I was gonna carry you back to your room buddy, but if you’re awake, I think Jules and I are just gonna head to bed.” Magnus says, yawning. 

“Yeah, natch, that’s uh-- That’s fine.” Taako looks around, sees they’re seemingly alone in the stables now. Killian and Carey are just exiting the barn when he peeks over, and Lucretia is nowhere to be found as he pulls himself to his feet. “Where’s Madame Director?” 

“She said she needed do to some paperwork, ran ahead. Remember we have that meeting with her in the morning.” 

Nodding, Taako leans against a post while Magnus gently leads their horses back to their proper stalls. “We’re going to start looking for that secret office Lup and Barry told us about, right?” 

“We can’t just rush into this one, Taako. We’re going to look, of course we are, but if we rush into this we’re going to get caught.” Julia says, and she sounds just as tired as she looks. She gives Magnus a pointed look when she says that. 

“We’re going to find it though.” Magnus reassures. "We won't just pretend this never happened." 

“Now let’s get some Pan damn sleep, my back hurts from sleeping on that cave floor,” Merle gripes, and Taako rolls his eyes. 

“Don’t you sleep on a mattress on the ground in the greenhouse?” 

“Only sometimes! I like to be out there! The plants _need_ me, you know. They probably missed me the last couple days--” 

“ _Gross_ , Merle,” 

“Not like _that!_ ” 

-

Taako’s entire life consists of being woken up when he doesn’t want to be. That’s what he’s beginning to understand. 

Upon arriving back to his room after making fun of Merle, he’d scrubbed himself clean in his bathroom before climbing into bed and falling into an instant sleep, though he didn’t stay that way for very long. All night he has his regular night terrors, but now something else -- something _darker_ \-- lingers at the back of his mind, and he’s wracked with paranoia all night. He's probably only on hour one-point-five of continuous sleep when Lucretia knocks at his door the next morning, and he's half tempted to cast magic missile at the door. He doesn’t though, and so Lucretia lets herself in without asking just like normal. She flings the curtains open like some sort of Fantasy Disney character and Taako hisses, pulling the blankets over his head. 

“ _Fuck off,_ can’t you let me sleep longer _for once?_ ” 

Lucretia, for her part, looks sorry for him but he’s not sure he can trust her right now and is probably overcritical of the fake-looking smile on her face as she says, “I’m sorry your majesty, but there's a lot to talk about today. Magnus and Julia are already waiting in my office, and Avi is grabbing Merle for me. We need to have a conversation about the people who kidnapped you, and the boy too.” 

“Yeah, I already told you. One of ‘em must’ve possessed me and made me break the kid out. They let him go as soon as we got to their secret hideout.” Taako lies smoothly-- or, as smoothly as he can when he just woke up after an hour and a fucking half of sleep. “Can’t this wait?” 

“No, Taako, like I said-- Magnus and Julia are already in my office. Now let’s get you dressed so we can get to our meeting.” 

“I can dress myself, you know. I’ve done it my whole elven life.” Taako grumbles as he sits up. Lucretia is already digging in his closet, however, and pulls out a simple outfit for the day. Some slacks and a blue ruffly tunic. Taako yawns and shouts, “Boooring. You’ve got to be kidding me, Madame Director.” 

Standing gracefully, Taako saunters over to the closet and begins to search it carefully; half because he really isn’t wearing what she just picked out and half because he’s trying to stall as much as he can, so Magnus and Julia can find the fake office. Hopefully that’s what they’re doing, or he’ll feel really stupid. 

After a full three and a half minutes of searching, throwing in the occasional annoyed huff at Luctretia’s pleas to _just pick one already_ , he pulls out a burgundy top and grins. Yes, this looks-- no, hold on, with an illusion spell making it glittery, yes now it’s perfect. High collar, with bare shoulders and long sleeves that ruffle and puff at the ends. It pairs nice with the pants Lucretia picked, and of course a carefully-selected wizard’s hat as well. 

“There. Are you done now?” 

“Well what about accessories--” 

Lucretia grabs Taako by the wrist and pulls him out of the bedroom before he can even think about what’s in his fancy costume jewelry box, and he groans. “You can do your makeup and find bracelets and the like when we’re _done in my office_ , prince Taako.” 

“Ugh, _fine_.” Taako says, and allows himself to be dragged out of his bedroom. When they finally arrive to Lucretia’s office, Taako makes sure to sneakily cast mage hand and knock before they come in and Magnus, Julia and Merle are sitting across from her desk. Magnus’ eyes dart between them, and Merle whistles innocently. 

Gods, these idiots are so bad at pretending.

“Alright, everyone. I won’t keep you long, I just need to know what happened. Taako, we’ll start with you.” Lucretia says, sighing as she sits down in her seat. 

Taako rolls his eyes, says “I’ve already told you a thousand times, but fine,” and tells the lie they’d rehearsed; he was hanging out with Avi, then suddenly he wasn’t in control of his own body and couldn’t regain control until he was in the cave. Lucretia’s face is unreadable as Magnus, Merle, and Julia start to tell their part of the story. This part is a little sketchier than originally planned, because they hadn’t gotten to the reason they stayed yet and Taako tries not to cringe as they scramble together to build a believable lie. 

“They were just too strong for us. We couldn’t even get close to them to attack, and Merle’s spells didn’t do anything!” Magnus shouts, arms flailing, and Taako glares at him, pushing down the arm closes to his face. 

“These guys are absolutely _horrible_ at rescue missions. How did they get hired?” 

“We tried to call for help, but-- but--” 

“The guy threatened prince Taako so we gave him our stones and he destroyed them.” 

Lucretia looks at them all quizzically, her eyes hardened, for a moment before she uncrosses her arms and stands. “Right, well, we’re all glad you’re back. And these kidnappers, they didn’t talk to you?” 

“They were talking in static or something, we had no idea what the hell they were saying.” Merle says, and immediately Taako and the others are glaring at him. The plan was to say they were ignoring them. 

Lucretia’s eyes widen. “Wh-- What? Static?” 

“Uh...Yeah? Why’re you all looking at me like that?” 

Taako’s gonna have a fucking heart attack. 

“...Alright. Okay. I-- I wasn’t going to do this, but...you four probably have questions.” Lucretia sighs. She moves towards the self portrait behind her desk and gently lifts it off the wall revealing an opening to a long, narrow hallway. “Please, follow me. There’s something you all need to know.” 

-

“Alright. We’ve gotta get back to Angus, see if he’s doing alright.” 

“Right. Lucretia should be gone, now.” Barry sighs. Their escape had been hasty, and they’d gotten a bit turned around. Wave Echo cave is nearby, but they’re rather high up on the mountain housing the cave systems they’re using and it’ll be a trek. “I’m just hoping the plan works.” 

“It should-- hey, babe, be careful, I don’t need you falling right now.” 

“I’m more worried about you, Lup, I’ll be fine.” Barry promises. He makes his way down the rocks carefully like Lup instructs, though somewhat distracted. 

“Do you think they’re alright? Taako should be waking up again soon. Gods, when he gets his memory back he’s gonna kill me for being so stupid.” 

“For the umbrella thing or for hiring a kid to kidnap him?” 

“ _Both_.” 

Barry laughs brightly, his eyes crinkling, and as he’s laughing he loses his footing and falls. He hears Lup gasp, and he’s caught before he can fall down a steep dropoff. 

"Woah. Close call. Thanks, Babe." He says, heart hammering in his chest as he regains his footing. He kisses her cheek, and she squeezes his hand. 

“Careful. Come on.” Lup leads Barry down the rest of the mountain until they reach the edge of wave echo cave; it’s nearing four in the afternoon, now, and it’ll be dark sooner rather than later. Time to feed Angus, get him to town or somewhere else safe, and get back to work. As much as they don’t want to just abandon the kid, it’s safer to lodge him at an inn and give him some gold to tide him by until they can get the time to take him to an orphanage. 

When they finally find the right entrance and enter, the first thing they see is Angus leaning against their chest, glasses slipping down his nose, fast asleep. Barry smiles and kneels down to shake his shoulder. 

“Angus...Hey, Angus buddy.” The kid startles under his touch and flinches, and Barry is quick to shush him. “Hey, hey, it’s me. Barry. Sorry it took us so long to get back.” 

Angus lifts his head with a drowsy, _“Hm? Sir?”_ When he sees Lup and Barry in front of him, he gasps and jumps up immediately. He wraps his arms around Barry in a tight hug, and Barry’s eyes widen in surprise. He hugs Angus back, patting him on the back and looks up at Lup. 

As soon as they make eye contact, he knows one thing for sure in a sea of uncertainties: Angus is staying with them. 

-

 _This is not going along with the plan._ This isn’t-- This is-- it’s-- it’s unbelievable. 

Down the hallway is a room, and in the middle of this secret chamber is a _large tank_. What the hell. Lucretia wouldn’t just give up this secret, if what Lup and Barry said was true. 

“Now, this is going to be a lot at once,” Lucretia says, going immediately to the tank. There’s a spigot near the bottom of it, and she grabs a large glass and fills it up to the top. “Each of you, take a big drink out of this-- it’s going to hurt your heads, but this is...important. You need to know why you were thrown into this mess.” 

“Right, well, I’m not drinking from that thing after Merle does, so I get firstsies!” Taako declares, swiping the glass from Lucretia. Before she can say anything else he takes a big gulp. It doesn’t occur to him until his head starts to feel like it’s splitting open that maybe she’s poisoning him. 

Then, as if it never left his memory, there he is-- witnessing a war so great, so massive, that there’s scarcely any peace. Even Neverwinter, a mainly middle-ground, peaceful country, is waged in war. 

He lost people in that war. He remembers, now-- he lost family, surely he did with the ache he feels at remembering the war. And the-- the _relics_. The things everyone fought so incessantly over, those damned relics. He feels bitterness rise in his throat as he watches the rest of his memories float past, filling in puzzle pieces once left unfilled yet making him feel so _incomplete_. 

When he comes back from whatever state he was in, he’s shaken by what he’s seen. 

“That was...” 

“Wow.” 

Magnus and Julia’s voices are hoarse, and he wonders what they saw just briefly. Merle’s the next to come out of it, and he looks perturbed but more in a “why would my God let this happen?” rather than any longing for the things he lost. 

“What was that?” Magnus asks, turning to Lucretia. Taako does too, and woah is that a big fucking jelly fish. “Is this...What hid those memories from us? The war?” 

“Yes. The relic wars--” Lucretia talks over them as Taako and Magnus make eye contact and say _“band name, called it,”_ looking tired. “Is what we call it. The entirety of Faerun was pulled in by the thrall of these magical relics, created by a group of extremely powerful magic users decades ago. These magic users --these red robes, as they’re called-- created them with the intent to use them for wrongdoing, and ultimately got separated from their creations. 

“As the relics began to circulate, they--” Lucretia hops into her long ass explanation about what the relics are, and the wars. Taako tunes most of it out, because something doesn’t feel right. When everything goes quiet again, Taako clears his throat. 

“So why’d you wipe the entire continent’s memory of these things? And why didn’t you let us all have our memories back before now?” 

“Yeah, what he said.” 

“It’s not that simple, boys. I’m sorry you all were kept in the dark, but only my closest fellow council members and the king have this knowledge. We thought it best to keep everything under wraps as we regain the relics into our possession and destroy them.” Lucretia says. She at least sounds sincere about that. 

“These wars destroyed people. I’m not surprised you took the first opportunity you could to help ease the losses everyone felt from them.” Julia pipes up, and Taako turns towards her. Her face is unreadable, but her hands are clenched in her skirt as she speaks. “Thank you, for letting us know. For the longest time, I-- I didn’t know what happened to my mother...I...I feel complete, now.” 

Lucretia’s face is awash with sadness as Julia speaks, and she places a hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about your mother, Julia. I hope knowing has given you some peace.” 

“It has. I-- Thanks.” Magnus wraps an arm around Julia, and he whispers something in her ear. She nods and mutters a quiet, _“I’ll be fine.”_

“Now that you four know, I must warn you. No one is to know about this. My inner circle is very small, and I do not let anyone in very often. Chances are, in this castle right now, there is only fifteen other people who know.” Lucretia warns. 

“And what does any of this have to do with those people that kidnapped me?” Taako asks, still trying to catch her in a lie. 

“Because they’re the last two red robes alive on the planet, trying to get their relics back.” 

-

Something isn’t right. 

Magnus _wants_ to believe everything is fine-- that the story about the relic wars is true, that they should fear Lup and Barry, that everything is under control. But he just... _doesn’t_. 

Perhaps it’s the seeds of doubt already sewn by Lup and Barry, but something about the whole thing feels incomplete. 

Julia doesn’t think so. As soon as the memories came back to her, she’s been filled to the brim with emotion. For all her life, she’d thought her mother abandoned her and her father, but to know that she died in the wars is a massive relief that she wishes her father were still alive to hear about. Instead, Magnus is there to comfort her and doesn’t mention his suspicion. Almost as soon as she got the full story from Lucretia, Julia’s trust moved from Lup and Barry back to Lucretia. 

So he stays quiet. Merle seems satiated by the information as well, and Taako...well, he’s Taako. Hard to read if you don’t know him all that well, and if he really ran away with some strange kid because of a hunch maybe Magnus doesn’t know him all that well. Prince Taako is usually more about safety than he is risk taking, and wouldn’t be one to target in trying to overthrow the government. 

Apparently that assumption was wrong, though. He’ll have to do some searching on his own; he _knows_ there’s something more than what Lucretia said. He just knows it. There has to be a second inner sanctum somewhere, and he’s gonna find it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw a comic on Tumblr where Barry dies and is looking at his body in lich mode saying "aw, beans," and really wanted to write something like that but I think lich Barry might scare Ango so instead I hope you enjoyed the dad moment he had instead. 
> 
> I cannot for the life of me find the comic now of course but it's as funny as it sounds.
> 
> EDIT** thanks to the person in the comments that found the comic for me here's the link so everyone else can laugh with me: 
> 
> https://herbgerblin.tumblr.com/post/190568285930/can-you-believe-these-liches-love-each-other


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako has a hot date to help destress after everything. Meanwhile, the Bluejeans family has a trip to town. But little do they know, something's awakened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a fluff/filler chapter with a little bit of plot towards the end, since it's been action and angst for a while. I once again was going to kill Barry this chapter but refrained from it.

“Alright, I can’t take anymore meetings or I’m going to _die_.” Taako groans as they he walks out of the council’s meeting room.

He’s been back a couple of days now, and Lucretia has been on his ass ever since. Making him go to every meeting, making him stay in the castle instead of venture out to the gardens like usual, _actually sticking to her rules this time_. He's in actual fucking prison. Spending time in the brig for trying to overthrow the government might be _more fun_ than this, actually.

Killian rolls her eyes at him, sauntering out of the room at a more leisurely pace. "I think you'll be fine, your majesty. That's the last of the meetings you're needed for, for today."

"Good. I can already feel the lifeforce draining from my beautiful princely form. I may just need to be carried back to my room," Taako says, draping himself against a wall which only grants another eye roll from the orc. He pouts at that. "I'm being serious! All these meetings aren't meant for Taako! I can't just sit around looking pretty all day, I need to _do things_."

"You're the one that chose to be the prince, remember? Let's get you to your room." Killian says, not-so-gently pushing Taako to a standing position. Taako glares at her but gets up begrudgingly, knowing this is how she treats everyone. How she and Magnus the-nicest-man-on-faerun Burnsides get along, he doesn’t know. Probably because of Carey. Taako makes his way through the halls, waving occasionally at people he knows. Killian follows not too far behind, escorting him to his room. Lucretia’s orders: Until the red robes are found, he’s to be escorted to and from any meetings, and a guard must be with him constantly.

Which, suspicious. And he’s never going to get any investigating done. 

But right now, Taako's-- well, he’s _tired_. Exhausted. He’s _earned_ a bit of relaxation. And he knows just how to do that ( _not like that, creeps_ ). Making sure sure he’s alone in his room before pulling out his stone of farspeech, Taako decides to call a certain handsome boy he’d met just two weeks ago. 

“Hello?” 

“Hi there Kravitz,” Taako purrs, smiling. Apparently, during his absence, Kravitz had finally gotten up the rare time and courage to try and call but he didn’t answer. Poor guy thought Taako wasn’t as into him as he thought and was offended by the kiss-- it was hard for Taako to explain that _no, he wasn’t avoiding him, he was just kidnapped, no big deal though, those guys are actually pretty cool but don't tell Madame Director that._ “My day has been _horrible_ , I need to talk to a cute boy after all of the bullshit I’ve gone through.” 

Kravitz chuckles, his low laughter sending a shiver down Taako’s spine. “Yeah? Tell me about it?” 

“Oh babe, you have no idea. So Madame Director wakes me up before the sun is even up--” 

Taako talks until he can’t anymore, about all of the boring meetings and bullshit said at those meetings. When he finishes, he at least has the decency to ask Kravitz about his day-- which seems exponentially better than Taako’s own. Apparently, the guy has a whole month off because his queen told him he works too much, and even though he seems rather bored, _he’s_ at least able to relax-- unlike Taako. 

He mentions taking Kravitz on a date offhandedly, but to his surprise Kravitz agrees. Says he’ll check with his queen, but he’ll come down for a day trip to Neverwinter the next day. So it’s a date. Taako has an idea of what he wants to do, so he begs and begs Lucretia until she agrees to let him off castle grounds-- with a guard, of course. 

Which is how he finds himself sitting at the chug-and-squeeze with Kravitz at his side, Killian and Carey watching not-so-closely from the other end of the room. 

“So, uh...How’ve you been? Aside from the whole kidnapping thing?” Kravitz asks awkwardly. He fumbles with his clay on the wheel, and Taako can’t tell if it’s because he’s nervous or he’s just really bad at pottery but it’s annoyingly cute. Taako snorts. 

“You’re really bad at conversation, aren’t you?” Taako asks, chuckling. “You were a lot better at the talking thing when you didn’t know I was the prince.” 

“Yes, well, it is rather intimidating speaking to other uh-- other royals. As I mentioned our first meeting, I get very overwhelmed with...people in general; I tend to stick to my work, and it's a solitary kind of job.” 

“Yeah? What do you do when you’re not working?” 

“There’s actually not a lot of times where I’m not,” Kravitz says with a nervous laugh. “I’m a bit of a workaholic. But uh...I’m into music? I play violin, and I-- I wanted to conduct. Just never found the time before my queen approached me.” 

“Really? I knew you were a music snob, but I didn’t know you played too. You’ll have to show me some stuff some time.” Taako bumps Kravitz’ side, actually helping the poor guy’s pottery a bit on the way. He’s about to say something again when he’s yelled at for making a bowl instead of a vase-- but he doesn’t care, he’s the fucking _prince_. After slipping his bowl off of the wheel and dropping it in the kiln, Taako slips behind Kravitz in his chair, smirking at the other’s indignant gasp. 

“T- Taako!” Krazitz hisses. Taako laughs. 

“Yeah, babe?” 

“I- I-- What are you _doing_?” 

“Helping you out, dude. You’re not getting anywhere like that, you’re totally uneven-- here,” Taako’s hands cup Kravtiz’ and gently guides them to make a semi-okay vase with how messed up it was before. He can’t tell from behind, but he’s positive Kravitz is blushing. He’s nice enough to get up once it’s done and lets Kravitz walk it to the kiln. He pours another glass of wine while he waits, eyes wandering the expanse of the Chug-and-squeeze. There’s a handful of couples on various stages of pottery and also drunkenness-- Carey and Killian are totally sloshed, which, not exactly a thing that should happen while they’re supposed to make sure he’s not being assassinated, but for this purpose it’s probably for the best. 

Taako himself is a healthy level of tipsy, a limit he’s known since he was much younger. How old was he, when he has his first drink again? Oh, he must’ve been freshly 17, he and-- 

He and-- 

He was with someone, and they drank together. They were celebrating something, what were they celebrating? Ah, fuck, thinking about it makes his brain hurt. By this point, Kravitz returns and breaks his train of thought. Oh well. He'll remember it later. 

“So, it’ll be a while until we can glaze and head home. What do you want to talk about while we wait?” 

Taako hums, leaning back in his seat, sloshing the wine in his glass. “Hm...Tell me more about your music? We do a lot of talking about me.” 

So Kravitz does. Then the topic moves to history, and even though Kravitz doesn’t look a day over thirty-five he has a vast knowledge of things that happened decades ago, of very niche topics, and it’s so much knowledge that Taako’s convinced the guy became a ward for his kingdom just for being a nerd. Like, seriously. That’s not a bad thing, though-- it’s kinda...cute. Makes Kravitz more human than royal; he’s still just a guy with niche interests that he knows too much about. 

Taako listens to Kravitz talk, for once not feeling inclined to take over the conversation, and just...enjoys his night. He’s not sure if it’s the alcohol or him genuinely enjoying Kravitz’ company-- maybe a bit of both. Definitely more the second one. But by the end of the night, as they leave the chug-and-squeeze with their finished pottery and two and a half bottles of wine finished between them, he’s genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. 

At the palace gates, Carey and Killian stumble into the guard shack to mess with Brian while Taako pulls Kravitz to the side. 

“I, uh...I had a really good time tonight. Like, one of the better dates I’ve been on in a decade.” Taako says, mainly because it’s true; he’s had his handful of dates over the years, but no one’s really enough for Taako. No one really gets him. But Kravitz does. At least, he tries-- that’s all he really asks for. Is that someone tries. “If you’re ever in town again, feel free to call me up, or I’ll see if I can make my way up to you. Dunno if Madame Director will let me, but I’ll sneak out if I have to.” 

Kravitz snorts, shaking his head fondly. “I’ll keep that in mind, but please don’t get in trouble for me. I’m not worth it.” 

“I beg to differ, big guy,” Winking, Taako’s glad he’s not too drunk yet to be smooth. “You’re gonna get home alright?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve uh-- got someone coming to get me. I’m supposed to meet them at the bank in a few minutes, just thought I’d be a gentleman and walk you back.” Kravitz says. He gives Taako a smile. “I really had a great time too. I’ll, uh-- I’ll see you again sometime.” 

He starts to walk away, and Taako revels in the surprised gasp when he grabs him by the wrist. 

“What, you were so brave on my birthday but I don’t get a kiss goodbye tonight?” 

“I-- Uh-- I didn’t know-- oh,” Kravitz sputters, hiding his face in his hands a moment before he shakes his head vigorously and nods. “I suppose it’s only fair.” 

Kravitz ducks down right as Taako leans up, and their teeth clack together a moment, both of them pulling away before Taako laughs and pulls him down --gently-- for a real kiss. 

“I’ll see you. Call me again tomorrow.” Taako says, giving him a cheeky grin before he disappears into the guard shack to pull Carey and Killian back to the main part of the castle. 

Kravitz smiles as he walks, a bit dazed, until he’s a fair distance away. Once he’s sure he’s not in the sight line of the castle, he materializes a scythe and cuts a portal back to his home plane. 

-

The day of Taako’s date finds Lup and Barry in a different position. They, accompanied by Angus, have taken a day trip down to Phandalin for supplies. Angus has a surprising knack for bartering-- he doesn’t undervalue the product while still negotiating for a fair price, and so Barry takes a step back and lets him and Lup deal with necessities. Their second pod, along with Angus’ stuff, had been destroyed when Lucretia found their hiding spot and so they’re buying him some things as well while Barry patrols the crowd for whisperings of any necromancers selling wares. While there’s a Fantasy Costco location in the center of town he's likely to find one in the back room of, he’d really like to not deal with that weird cat again if he doesn’t have to. 

He doesn’t hear anything and so decides to focus once again on Lup and Angus’ conversation, finds them talking in low whispers over a blue cap with a creme-colored feather sticking out the top. 

“I- I really can’t accept anything more than the necessities from you, ma'am. You and mister Barry have already given me so much, I don’t wish to take advantage of your kindness.” 

“It’s _fine_ , Ango, it’s not like a dork hat’s gonna cost us much extra. And you lost your fancy boy hat and that silverware because of us, it’s the least we can do. Right babe?” Barry lifts his head at Lup’s question, pushes up his glasses, and nods. 

“Right. We feel really bad, bud." It feels wrong to mention to Angus the recall spell they’d put on all of their gold while they’re short on cash, because it’s technically stealing and he’s still young and impressionable. So instead he opts to place a handful of coins in the booth owner’s hand and takes the cap from Lup’s hand, setting it on the kid’s head with a smile. 

“Are you-- Sir, are you sure?” Angus asks, reaching a hand up to touch the feather sticking out of the hat in awe. Barry nods, and a bright grin beams on the kid’s face. He hugs Barry and then jumps to hug Lup, who has a matching grin on her face-- though he can’t tell if that’s because she’s happy the kid’s happy or because she knows she’ll be getting the money back for that ridiculously over-priced hat. 

“Alright, now that that’s settled,” Lup says, “Let’s go get some grub before we head back. I’m _starving_.” 

-

The next morning, Taako wakes with one of the worst hangovers he’s had in a-- well, it’s only been like three weeks. He’d spent the night before his birthday ball getting drunk with some of his favorite castle staff since he had to diplomatic shit the next night and Lucretia wouldn’t let him. That was a _bad_ hangover-- he almost didn’t go to his own party, but finally he got Merle to use a healing spell on his killer headache. 

Still. The point is, he’s hungover and crabby when he finally makes his way through the halls to get food, much to Johann’s chagrin; the guard follows leisurely behind as they make their way to the dining hall. Taako grabs some food from the both of them and, because he doesn’t feel like sitting in there and letting his eardrums explode with all the noise that’s in there, leads Johann outside to the gardens. He’s technically not allowed in the gardens with all of the new rules Lucretia has in place to “keep him safe” but usually Johann doesn’t mind because all they do is hide behind some trees and sit in silence. Taako will do some light spell practice while Johann works on compositions; it’s a win-win. 

Today, however, they make it twelve feet outside before a loud shrieking noise breaks through the air and the sky turns black. Taako blinks, sees millions upon millions of eyes in the sky all searching the ground. He looks over to Johann, finds the guard crumpled to the ground, his food scattered around him. The screaming persists as Taako rushes back inside and sees other castle staff all in similar states of unconsciousness. Then he sees Magnus rushing out of the dining hall and they make eye contact. 

“Prince Taako! Are you alright? How are you awake right now!?” 

“I’m not sure my dude, but I’m pretty sure this is the bad world-ending thing Lup was talking about!” He calls back. “We need to--” 

And just like that, the screaming stops and the ground shakes a bit as the sky turns back light and everything is quiet again. Magnus runs over to a couple of palace staff as they begin to stir and Taako remembers Johann. 

“Hol-- Hold on Magnus don’t go anywhere ‘cause I think we need to talk here in a minute,” He calls over his shoulder, disappearing back outside to find Johann already sitting up, cradling his head. 

“Wha-- What was that?..” 

“Your guess is better than mine, dude. All of a sudden there was just, like...eyes and shit, and that screaming...” His head is swirling, trying to wrap his head around what just happened, but all he can feel is deep-rooted terror clawing its way up his throat as he tries to keep it cool. He helps Johann to his feet, gathers the dropped fruit, and they go inside to see if anyone else felt that-- which, it seems, everyone did. Madame director, ten minutes after the whole ordeal, finally finds everyone in the dining hall and breathes a sigh of relief when she sees him, Mangus and Julia, Merle, and Johann sitting at a table. 

“Oh, prince Taako, thank goodness you’re alright. I’ve been searching the whole castle for you.” She says, panting. “How are you all doing? I don’t know what that just was, but I can’t imagine it’s good.” 

“I’m fine. ‘Cha boy didn’t even hit his head, don’t hurt your noggin worrying about that; it'll take a lot more than that to shake Taako.” Taako says. “I think Boyland actually stabbed himself with a steak knife when he fell, though, so you should check on him.” 

“He did? Oh, my, well I-- Well, yes, I’d better head to the infirmary! I just wanted to-- to check up on you. I’m glad you’re alright. We’ll have a council meeting about this later today, I’ll come find you.” 

“Right, right,” Taako waves her off, rolling his eyes both for the act and out of annoyance. _Another_ meeting? Gross. Lucretia rushes off, occasionally stopping at a table to check in on people, before she’s gone completely. As soon as they’re sure he’s not there anymore, Taako turns to the group. “Okay, so we’re all in agreement that whatever just happened out there was the big bad our friends in the cave were talking about, right? Like, It’s so obviously what they were talking about.” 

“Oh definitely. But why were _we_ awake when everyone else was knocked out?” Merle asks. 

“I think it was only you three. The guys in the kitchen and I were all out, and I haven’t heard anyone else saying they were still standing.” 

“I thought we were getting attacked!” 

“We _are_ , idiot,” Taako snaps, “It’s gonna be the end of the world? Remember?” 

“So what do we do?” 

“It’s been a week and we haven’t found anything, I don’t know if we will...” Julia says. “I want to believe those two, but...We really haven’t found any evidence to prove we should.” 

“You-- You think so, Jules?” Asks Magnus, face morphing into one of concern. “I dunno, I-- I still trust them.” 

“Magnus...” 

Magnus turns to Julia, clasping her hands in his own larger ones. “Jules, you and I were on the right side of history with Kalen. I _know_ we’ll be on the right side of this too. Trust me.” 

Julia look at Magnus for a moment, hesitant, before she nods and her face morphs to one of determination. “Alright. But I’m serious when I say we’ve looked everywhere we have access too. We’ve been in Madame Director’s inner sanctum, and the voidfish is already there.” 

“So, what now?" Merle asks. “I’m with Julia, I dunno what else there is. We found what Madame Director’s hiding. She showed us that voidfish thing, and unless that thing can pick and choose what it blocks out...” 

Taako, who’s been silent the whole time, makes eye contact with Magnus and something clicks. Magnus clears his throat. 

“Unless...” 

“Unless?..” 

“There’s a second voidfish hidden somewhere in the castle.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love reading the nice comments you've all been leaving since my updates moved to (semi) weekly. I'm so glad y'all enjoy it and I hope to start wrapping things up soon.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merle makes a discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. This may be rushing things but I kinda just *really* wanted to get to the whole backstory and the reason for this fic. Sorry it's been a while since I posted, and Idk when the next chapter will be up; I had midterms, and some extra coursework I needed to get done during my spring break. 
> 
> Now my uni's cancelled all next week, and the way courses are delivered in the future is still up in the air. And bc all schools are cancelled, uni and k-12, I got laid off since I work in the school system haha. Idk if I'll have to move back home for the rest of the semester, but if I do we won't have wifi at home...which means idk how I'll do my schoolwork lmao. 
> 
> Life be wild. Stay safe.

Merle doesn’t know what led to the discovery. Lucretia, desperate to find someone to entertain the king while she’s gone for the day on business, had asked him to just sit with him for a few hours. And, well...Merle doesn’t really have much to do. So. 

Why not? 

One moment he’s in King Davenport’s room, leaning against the wall while the king sets up a game of euchre, the next he’s falling into a hallway all too similar to the one in Lucretia’s office-- his prosthetic arm almost getting ripped off in the process. He stumbles on his feet, but doesn’t fall; when he regains his footing, he turns and looks at the king. He looks just as surprised, and sets down the cards. He stands and follows after Merle, eyes inquisitive but he doesn’t speak even as they make their way through the passage. It’s lit by scarcely-placed sconces, and the brickwork looks like older parts of the castle-- Merle doesn’t know how he knows about that, but it really does. 

Slowly, Merle leads the king through the passage way and they find a small room at the end of it. Against the far wall, a tank similar to the first voidfish but smaller. He’s confused for a split second before he remembers the search for a second voidfish. 

Merle quickly ducks a hand into the tank and lifts it to his mouth. He watches the king do the same before he crumbles to the floor. 

-

_They’re safe. They’re safe._

_It’s all they’ve ever wanted, since they started their hundred year journey, and now they finally have it. A home._

_But at what cost?_

_Lucretia wobbles on her feet as she looks out her window, down at the kingdom of Neverwinter. Davenport is down there, in a council meeting with the king. She can only imagine what it’s about; what kind of verbal beatdown he’s getting for bringing this havoc onto the planet. It’s no secret that they’re not from this realm, they’d made it pretty known by coming down on a ship, and it was hard to push aside blame when the relics started cropping up._

_Now the whole world is at war, and Faerun is torn to shreds-- Neverwinter especially._

_Magnus is cooing at Fisher in his tank, completely ignoring the view outside the windows. Lucretia doesn’t know if he’s ignoring the wrecked state she’s in for her sake or his, but either way if it’s addressed they’ll both start to cry. It’s for the best. Merle is probably out on the deck, trying to relax by muffling the din of the fighting with ear plugs. Normally, at this time of night, Taako and Lup would be bickering in the kitchen but she hasn’t heard that in months now. When was the last time she saw Taako smile? Like genuinely, really smile?_

_Barry too-- when did he sleep last? He’d been out searching after the last glassing, but they’re happening so close together now that it’ll be impossible to stay caught up, and--_

_Things need to change. She just doesn’t know how._

_Lucretia turns away from the window, pulling the curtains and enveloping the room in darkness. Magnus yelps before Fisher adjusts to the lack of light and starts to glow a soft. warm purple. Magnus gives a tired smile. “It’s getting to you too, huh?”_

_“How couldn’t it? I-- There’s just...There were other options, Magnus, and this is is the one we chose.”_

_“It sucks, I know. But this is so much better than the Hunger, and hey-- we stopped the Hunger!_

_“We could stop it another way!”_

_“C’mon, Lucretia...”_

_“Magnus, do you know how old I am?” Lucretia asks. She doesn’t wait for an answer as she sucks in a breath and interrupts, “I have been alive for one hundred and twenty three years – most of which I did not age a day. That is a gift to humans. We don’t have extended lifespans like elves, or dwarves.”_

_Magnus, brows furrowed, opens his mouth to speak. “I–”_

_“I got on this ship for the first time as a freshly twenty-two year old, I’ve lived through a century of hell, and yet you all still treat me like the baby!” Lucretia very rarely raises her voice and she can see the fear in Magnus’ eyes as she yells. “I’m not even the youngest in the crew, that’s you Magnus. I should be at least listened to but no one wants to hear me out. I know how to beat the hunger.”_

_“…Lucy, do you really think we treat you like that?” Magnus asks sincerely, his eyes now sad, and Lucretia sighs._

_“Just– Just get out. It’s not worth it right now.”_

_“…huh? What’s no–”_

_“Please! I just want to be alone, Magnus.” She pleads. Magnus stays in place a moment, before standing from the flood and nodding at her. He walks silently to the door, but stops when his hand touches the knob._

_“…you heard what Lup and Barry said would happen, Luce. Just think about it before you do anything stupid.”_

_“Right.”_

_Lucretia watches him leave, and once she’s sure he’s gone slumps against the wall and just…cries. Her eyes fall to the unfinished journal on her desk, only missing the events of this last week, and she starts to sob even more._

_Sorry, Magnus. I’m already doing it._

_That night, Lucretia is about to drop her journal into Fisher’s tank when Davenport comes up from Neverwinter with an announcement that throws everyone for a loop._

_“The king of Neverwinter made me king!”_

_“What?!”_

_“I’m king! Starting next week!” Davenport says, still not explaining. Lucretia has not been able to close her mouth, jaw agape, and that seems to be the general consensus amongst the six of them. Barry’s jaw basically hit the floor when Davenport made is announcement, and Taako’s eyebrows are raised in a way that suggests he’s not sure if Davenport is joking or not. Magnus is unusually silent, looking positively overwhelmed by the news-- there’s tears in his eyes, but Lucretia can’t tell if it’s from happiness or some other emotion._

_“Wanna-- Wanna elaborate a lil’ bit there, Cap?”_

_“Oh, of course Merle! Right, it’s a bit complicated...” Davenport hops up from the dining table when the teapot begins to screech, still talking as he grabs mugs from the cupboards. Taako casts levitate and they all float to the table for Davenport. “You see, he knows we’re the ones behind the relics. He’s upset at the state of not only his kingdom but the entirety of Faerun, too. But he thinks that the influence of a creator of one of the relics may be able to place some regulations on powerful magic like that and perhaps regain control of them somehow.”_

_Taako whistles, shaking his head. “That’s some whack shit. Do you even have any political experience Cap’n’port?”_

_“Yeah, did you just accept this position without thinking about the implications?”_

_“Of course I thought about it. It’s a big decision, but we really fucked up this world and I think we can do things to fix it. Once I’m king I’ll help rebuild around Neverwinter, and we can grab the relics and rehide them.” Davenport says. “I know we’re all stressed by Lup being gone, and the wars going on planetside...I just want to fix it. But I’m going to need help.”_

_The room is silent as six of seven IPRE crew members look at their captain; his face is ever-determined, wrinkled prematurely, but he has a teary smile on his face nonetheless._

_“A king needs a council, after all, and you’re all going to be on it. Does that sound alright?”_

_“...I mean, natch, but I think there’s a more important question we haven’t asked yet.” Taako says slowly. “Do we get to stay in the castle?”_

_Davenport grins. “Hell yeah we do.”_

_With that news, Lucretia is overwhelmed with revising her notes, adding pages she never thought she would. Between moving into the castle and Davenport’s --king Davenport’s-- coronation into his new position, it’s hard to find the downtime to write, too. Everything is happening too fast._

_Fisher sings from his tank, and Lucretia lifts her head, smiling fondly at him. She can tell Fisher knows something is up, by the way he keeps swimming around the tank and cooing at her, and she feels guilty about that --really-- but she needs to finish her work. Everything that was thrown at her the last month and a half, she knows she’s been neglecting him a bit, but hopefully that will change soon._

_-_

_Merle lets out a low whistle, looking around Davenport’s office. It’s been a month and he hasn’t seen Davenport’s office yet; he’s been too busy setting up the garden, and Davenport has been busy as king, too. It’s strange not to see the crew all the time._

_“Man, Dav, these are some killer digs.” He says as he turns back to Davenport. His friend has a smile on his face that he doesn’t think he’s ever seen before, and it’s understandable why; after one hundred years of living on a small ship, and not being able to just settle down...it’s nice to be able to do so._

_“Right? The previous king was a bit of a slob, I only just got it finally to the way I like it.” Davenport says, sliding into his desk chair. Merle sits in a plush chair right across from him, glad that Davenport is of similar stature and has shorter chairs for him. “We’ll have to have dinner some time this week, all of us together.”_

_“Yeah, that’d be nice. You think we could get Taako to cook without Lup? I miss his cooking.”_

_Davenport hums sadly at the mention of Lup. “He hasn’t cooked much since she disappeared, even with the big kitchens in the castle.”_

_“Right.” Merle sighs. He tries not to think about that much, but sometimes he can’t help it; even one person missing from their family feels like a...a hole._

_“But we can think about finding Lup and all of that later. Why don’t we get in a game of euchre before--” The end of Davenport’s “before,” slurs and stutters a bit, and Merle frowns. “Before...What were we--”_

_Blinking, Merle’s world tilts and all of a sudden he doesn’t remember where he is. He knows he’s with Dav-- With-- With...the king? What’s he doing here?”_

_“...You’re-- You’re Merle. I-- I know you..!”_

_“ **Who...What the hell’s goin’ on here?”**_

_-_

_Something's off with Lucretia._

_She's been spending a concerning amount of time in her new room, scribling away in her journals like her life depends on it. No doubt writing about the relic wars happening-- once so far away, and now close enough to watch people die from their windows. Magnus knows it's tearing her up, and wishes he could do better than this stupid wooden duck. But there's not a lot that he can do-- he's always been the muscle, the heart. Not exactly the brains of the operation-- that's up to Lup and Barry, and Lup is currently out of commission. _

_He knows a carved duck that looks a little bit like her isn't going to help much, but when he gave Taako his it at least earned a chuckle and a "fuckin' Maggie," out of the elf before he headed back up to his and Barry's makeshift "office."_

_Still. Even a little smile out of her would be enough to make him smile too._

_Lucretia doesn't answer her door vocally when he knocks, as she's wont to do, but he can hear her padding around the room and so he lets himself in only to pause in the doorway. Lucretia is just stepping off the stepping stool they keep next to Fisher's ever-growing tank, and as the steps down Fisher begins to devour whatever she just dropped into the tank-- a large, blue leather-bound book that looks suspiciously like a cylce log, and--_

_Wait. Cycle? Like-- Like laundry cycle? Wha--?.._

_Lucretia gasps when she sees him. "Oh, Magnus, no." _

_" **Wh-- Where am I..? What's going--"**_

_"I'm sorry Magnus. This is only temporary, I promise." Lucretia says, and then his eyes go black."_

_The starblaster is parked behind the castle. Barry’s eyes trail over it as he leans against the table they pulled out to the top of one of the towers overlooking the city. He can barely keep his eyes open, fatigue pulling at his entire being. Neverwinter is beautiful at night, which he would take note of if he wasn't so distracted with everything going on. For now, during the night, the fighting is nonexistent. He knows by morning the war will start again in full force._

_“Hey, how--” Barry jolts, lifting his head, and his glasses slip down his nose as he whirls around to look at Taako. He wobbles on his feet as Taako rushes over to help him lean against a wall. “Hey, sorry. You look like hell, man.”_

_“I feel like hell,” Barry says. He runs his hands over his face, and his glasses creak as they’re pushed up and off his eyes. He sighs. Taako sighs too. “What did you need?”_

_“I was just coming up to ask you if you had any updates. I know it’s getting kinda hopeless.”_

_“Not hopeless. We can’t give up yet, we’re-- we’re close. I know it.” Barry says. He knows it. Taako looks skeptical, and Barry just shakes his head. He stands back up, leaning against the table as he looks over the map they’d set up. It’s covered in circles and X’s, all locations they’ve searched. “There was some reported relic activity by the felicity wilds; we could take the ship down and look around, see if she’s down there.” _

_“Right, sounds good. How’s that-- How close is that in relation to the last glassing?”_

_“They’re, uh...They’re pretty close, I’d say about five miles apart.”_

_“Sweet. So, the same deal as always” Taako asks, running a hand through his tangled hair. Barry nods, and all of a sudden-- all of a sudden, he’s having a hard time remembering what’s happening. He knows he’s at the castle, looking for Lup, but-- but why?_

_Blinking rapidly, Barry shakes his head to clear his thoughts. “Taako, what if she’s just gone?”_

_A beat of silence, then-- **“Who?”**_

_That’s-- what? “T- Taako...What are you--”_

_“What if who’s gone?”_

_This...What? Barry rubs at his eyes aggressively as he reels-- it feels like, like all of a sudden everything is being ripped from him, memories good and bad suddenly leaving his mind against his will. One second they’re there, and the next--_

_“Oh, god...I-- Taako, I can’t remember her face. Why can’t I remember her face?”_

_This isn’t good, this is--_

_“Is this Fisher? Is-- What’s happening--”_

_Barry lifts his head, hand pressing against his temple. Taako looks panicked as his eyes flick around the space they’re in, and Barry backs against the wall, shaking. This is definitely Fisher. He can’t\-- There can’t be anything else doing this, who-- who--_

_Lucretia._

_“Ta-- Taako. Kill me.”_

_“Wh--”_

_“ Kill me. I’ll remember if I’m a lich, I--” Before Barry can finish, a spell is slung in his direction and he stumbles back, against the half-wall protecting people from walking off the edge of the tower. Another spell is leveled against him and he falls back, and before he knows it he’s dead. Again. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Answers on why Lup and Barry know about Fisher's ichor will be in the next chapter, and the one after that will be all about Magnus and Taako.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Lup search-- for answers, for each other, and for a way to stop Lucretia's plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very much NOT edited bc I'm just too lazy right now to do so right now. Pls don't be shy an leave a comment anything positive would make me feel better about life.

_“...So, we both agree it’s kinda weird that I can’t hear-- whatever Lucretia’s singing. Right?”_

_“Yeah. It doesn’t seem like she knows why, though-- or if she does, she’s pretty good at hiding it.” Barry, in lich form, reaches up to push his glasses up before he realizes he can’t. Lup smiles at him, shaking her head._

_“I don’t think she’s hiding anything. But she does spend more time with Fisher than us, so there’s a chance she could’ve experienced something that we didn’t.” Lup says. “We should do some research, and see if we can figure out what’s going on.”_

_“Right.”_

_Over the next couple of cycles, Lup and Barry spend time in Lucretia’s quarters while they work to find a reason for why Lucretia knows forgotten parts of the conservatory that they can only remember in their undead lives. They try everything from personally taking care of Fisher to see how he reacts to his caretakers, to changing the way they feed him. Nothing. The hypotheses they made didn’t really make sense anyway, but it’s-- well, it’s frustrating._

_Finally, four years after that first incident in cycle 96, they try something else._

_Barry is taking a test tube of the water in Fisher’s ever-growing tank (thank goodness Taako knows some transmutation magic so they don’t have to find a new tank every year), when fisher thinks he’s playing and splashes him. Barry coughs and stumbles back, while fisher coos and continues to splash. As he coughs, some of the water gets in his mouth and he instinctively swallows. It feels like he’s being drowned, and he’s terrified. Then, the water stops coming and he’s able to suck in a deep breath before it’s taken away again; this time for a different reason._

_Memories of recitals both successful and forgotten, of songs and dances and books-- all forgotten by the Light Of Creation in the Legato Conservatory._

_“Babe, you all good?”_

_“Yeah, that sounded painful-- you need me to conjure up a fantasy oxygen tank?”_

_“All good. Just riled Fisher up a bit, is all.” Barry says. He pulls his inhaler out of his pocket and puffs, leaning against the wall. Fisher sings happily as they all take in what happened. “Hey, babe, you wanna take a step out a minute? Get some fresh air?”_

_“Huh? Yeah, I-- Sure?”_

_Lup stands from her chair and helps Barry stand straight. She has a frown on her face as they leave Lucretia’s room to go out on the deck of the ship._

_“So uh...I figured out what makes us forget.”_

_They were going to tell the rest of the crew about the discovery, but there never really was a good time. Later on the same day of the discovery about Fisher’s tank water, there was an accident and Taako ended up dying. With Taako gone, and Merle having died early in the year from a final parlay with the Hunger, they needed all hands on deck preparing for the Hunger to arrive-- which is even sooner than last time._

_Then the next cycle comes and the fight for the Light is a tough one, and then they’re making the relics, and then the wars, and then--_

_Then._

_Barry is helpless without Lup, and he knows this well. He can’t sleep knowing she’s gone and not in their bed. He’s not hungry knowing it’s not hers or Taako’s, and Taako hasn’t had the energy to cook. The relief of not having to fight the hunger is overtaken by the grief of war and uncertainty._

_So when he starts to forget his family, watches his best friend forget him right in front of him, he really wishes they’d gotten the opportunity to tell them about their research. Because now he’s rushedly packing a bag of his things. He can hear Lucretia talking in low voices to someone -- Magnus -- apologizing, making promises she can’t keep. He needs to be fast, get out of here. He’ll take Taako and they can find Lup together and fix this. He-- They all need to remember._

_Luckily, Lucretia is busy talking Magnus down in his own room and so he has the perfect opportunity to dip into her room and fill his and Lup’s canteens with Fisher’s ichor. Shoving them in his haphazardly filled bag, he rushes back up to the tower he’d left Taako, and finds the elf nowhere to be found._

_Panic is starting to settle, now, and Barry feels electricity pulling through his lich form as he searches for Taako, but he knows time is running out. If he doesn’t find Taako soon, the guards on rounds will--_

_“Hey! What are you doing down h--”_

_Too late._

_-_

_Lup is dying. She knows this._

_It’s slow, and damn painful, but at least this isn’t one of the worse ways she’s died. At least she’ll still have her lich form, if--_

_if..._

_The umbrastaff begins to shake in a familiar way, and her slowing heart jumps to her throat, eyes wandering the opening of wave echo cave but there’s no one around which means--_

_“Shit,” She hisses, lifting a weak hand and holding her focus up. If she doesn’t get rid of it somehow, she’s going to get sucked in there and then she’s fucked. The world is fucked!_

_As much as it hurts to do, she has to break it. If she doesn't, she doesn't want to know what happens. Taking a big rock, Lup bends it over it until there’s a crack! Then nothing. After using the last of her strength to snap her magic focus, her life force drains from her slumped form and she's...dead. Then she isn't. One moment, Lup is in her body and the next she’s floating over it in lich form. She can hear the dwarf she shoved into the safe shouting loudly about wanting to be let out, and doesn’t even think twice as she turns in the opposite direction. _

_The gauntlet is gone. The gauntlet is gone. Only six more relics to go, and once they’re all hidden they can begin to fix this world and what they did to it. It’s just a shame she spent her physical form so early on; she’ll have to figure out a way to make a new one when she gets back to the ship. She’ll need a new wand when she gets there too, until she can make a new umbrastaff-- with improvements to the design to not kill her or Barry, of course. Hopefully the ship is still where they had it parked when she left, she knows they like to move it every now and again. Follow the moon. _

_When Lup finally sees sunlight again, she’s glad. The starblaster had only been parked a couple of towns over two weeks ago when she left, but in lich form it’s dangerous for Lup to just be out in the open and so it takes twice as long for her to get there. By time she does, she’s exhausted and ready to hunker down for a few weeks while they figure out the whole body situation, but there’s a slight issue._

_The ship isn’t there._

_As Barry looks for Lup, she looks for Barry. With Lup hiding from major towns so no one freaks out upon seeing a lich and Barry looking for an elf woman; it’s...not an easy search for either of them. Every time she thinks they’re getting close, the starblaster moves. Faerun is a lot larger than she’d thought_

_Then something changes. It’s starting to snow outside when all of a sudden everything is just.. quiet. And not the normal it’s-getting-close-to-candlenights-let’s-be-nice quiet. No, the-- the war stops. There’s nothing. And Lup doesn’t understand. Even with the gauntlet locked up, there’s still other relics out there. People should still be fighting for them. _ _It’s quiet for a month, and Lup hears whisperings of the starblaster travelling around more frequently; no matter how fast she moves, it's always gone before she can reach it._

_Lup is scouring the small town of Rockport a short time after the stillness begins when she feels a familiar feeling. The electric feeling of a fellow lich nearby draws her cautiously through the darkened streets. She's ready to cast to kill, if she has to, but when she rounds the corner she finds--_

_"Babe?!"_

_-_

_The reunion, despite how happy it is, is quickly turned distressing._

_Barry tells her how wrecked he and Taako were when she disappeared. She knows it’s her own fault, but there’s nothing they can do about it. He tells her about how they searched for her, how little he’s slept in the handful of months they’ve been searching for each other. About Davenport becoming king of Neverwinter-- the reason she couldn’t find the starblaster hovering above Faerun._

_Lup can feel her lich form destabilizing before she can keep her cool upon hearing Barry’s detail of what’s going on. Her family --her brother-- forgetting her? Forgetting each other? It takes her a long moment to calm down enough so she’s not sparking all over the place._

_Luckily, Barry had half the mind to pack some of their things in his panicked escape. Not that they can wear the clothes until they have new bodies, which-- they’re going to have to pull some serious necromancy to get those. But that isn’t what they need to worry about right now._

_Among their personal items, Barry also packed spell components, research notes, and--_

_“Our canteens? I mean, we don’t exactly need those right now babe but good thinking?”_

_“No, babe, that’s-- that’s water from Fisher’s tank. For when we get our bodies back. So we can re-inoculate ourselves.”_

_Lup blinks-- or, as much as she can in this form. That’s...something she didn’t think about-- Not really. They’ve never had to think about this, really. This is all such uncharted territory. They haven’t done any extensive testing, and so they don’t know if they’ll have their memories back or not; and if they don’t, how will they know to drink from their canteens? Surely waking up alone and scared will not make them trust blindly-- that isn’t exactly their M.O._

_They have a lot of work to do._

_Finding a way to get their bodies back is, surprisingly, easy. That’s the easiest part, probably. Necromancy auctions have everything a lich could want, and they’re able to nab two body regen pods, just barely bidding over some terrifying cat. The waiting is...awful. Six months of waiting? Luckily Barry kept Lup’s note, and they were able to pull some hair from Barry’s comb and start growing their bodies. All the while, they know Lucretia is looking for them; Lup’s paranoia is on the rails as they hide their pods in a transmuted cabin in the woods, and there’s rarely a night either of them sleep a whole night._

_Lucretia finds them right before their bodies return to them, and the guilt in her eyes is almost enough to make them stop and listen-- but then she casts at them._

_It takes all that Lup has not to lose control when she sees Lucretia, to grab her and shake her and ask where her brother is. Instead, she uses the last of her spell slots to teleport the regen pods somewhere else-- anywhere else._

_She thinks she can hear Lucretia say something as she pulls Barry through the portal._

_-_

_Water. Lup can’t remember why she’s here, but she’s under water and her lungs ache as she fumbles to find an exit. Her eyes flutter open, and through the haze of seeing under water she sees her escape just a foot above where her hands are flailing above her head. Pushing off of the ground, Lup sucks in a deep breath as she breaches the water. She’s in a...tank?_

_A gasp next to her startles her out of her confusion and she turns to find a human man in a similar position, his wide frame heaving from lack of oxygen. His skin is pale, freckles dotting his shoulder as a salt-and-pepper mullet presses down, brushing against the back of his neck, and--_

_Wait. Is he naked? Why is he naked?_

_Lup looks down at her own frame and lets out a gasp to find she’s also naked. “What the fuck?”_

_The man lifts his head, startled, and blinks his eyes rapidly as he looks in her direction. His cheeks flush deeply when he sees a naked woman in front of him, and he immediately scrambles to both cover himself and his eyes. Lup rolls her eyes, crawling out of the tank she’s in and looking around. She’s mortified to be naked in front of a stranger, but if this is going to happen it might as well. She finds a bag full of clothes, and some of them look familiar and so she pulls them on her soaked form; the clothes stick a bit to her skin as she takes in where she is-- a cave. It’s cold._

_“Who the hell are you? What is this, some weird sex thing? And where’s--” Lup’s words die on her lips, and she frowns, confused. What as she going to say? There’s someone-- someone...she can’t remember their name right now. Weird. Whatever._

_“I-- I don’t know. I’m just as confused as you are!” The guy says. He covers himself up as he scrambles from the tank, and Lup shakes her head, grabbing the other back and tossing it to him._

_“Here, get dressed. Whatever this is, we have clothes here at least.” She sighs. The guy grabs the bag and pulls the clothes in there on without much thought. Lup snorts when she sees he’s wearing mostly denim, raising an eyebrow. He doesn’t seem embarrassed by it, though, so she doesn’t comment._

_“What's going on?” He asks after a moment of silence, and Lup frowns._

_“I thought you would know. I can’t remember anything before this.”_

_“Me neither,” The guy says, rubbing at his temple. “Fuck, my head hurts.”_

_Lup has to agree. Her head is killing her. She looks around the cave they’re in and finds it odd how much is in it. There’s a couple of bedrolls, those tanks, and a trunk, and a small fire burning near the back of the cave. She still doesn’t know how they got here, though, and she doesn’t even know this guy. She needs to find--_

_Find--_

_Ugh, someone. Someone who’ll know what’s going on._

_Lup stretches as she stands, her legs wobbling like a newborn deer, and she’s just about to peek her head out of the edge of the cave when there’s a crack of lightning and it starts to rain outside._

_...Well. What do they do now?_

_-_

_Lup’s hands try and hold onto the wet rock as she tries to use her feet to climb up, but she can feel her fingers slipping and her hold failing. Barry -- he’d told her his name once they realized they were stuck alone in the cave when the storm started -- is too far away to reach her, and she makes eye contact as her grip finally gives out and she’s falling, falling, falling._

_And then?_

_Just as Lup is expecting darkness, nothingness, she’s...on top of the cliff again, looking at Barry. And Barry is looking at her, eyes wide in alarm._

_“Barold! What the--” Then the memories come. Lup feels her lich form crackling, sparks flying from her, and Barry looks even more scared, he's backing away from her, and--_

_Right. Barry can’t remember her. Fuck. For interplanar science officers they’re real fucking idiots._

_“Babe? I know this is kinda weird, but I can explain.”_

_“I-- You’re a-- You-- Wha--” And Barry falls off the other side of the cliff._

_This is going to be harder than they thought._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life be crazy. Stay healthy.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus meets someone. Taako kills someone. Merle...he's actually pretty alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see. 
> 
> Life is crazy. Support BLM and fuck cops. 
> 
> This is another flashback chapter, the confrontation with Lucretia will be in the next chapter. Whenever that gets posted.

_Magnus Burnsides doesn’t know where he is when he wakes up-- doesn’t even know where he was going before he lost consciousness. Or how he even lost consciousness. All he knows is that he’s in the back of a cart, none of his weapons readily available, and he’s moving._

_He should be more scared than he is, probably, but he’s-- he’s more... numb than anything. There’s a heavy ache in his heart, like when his grandfather died when he was twelve, but-- but heavier. _

_There’s a soft whinny, and the cart slows to a stop. Magnus pushes himself up groggily, running a hand through his hair. Just as he’s about to hop out of the cart, the canvas door opens up and light floods into the small compartment. Magnus’ eyes strain at the sudden light, sees a slim figure silhouetted against the sun, and he calls out: “Hello?..”_

_A soothing, strangely familiar voice speaks, sounding relieved. Magnus can’t place the voice, however, and the sound of her voice sends waves of confusion and nausea through his body. “Oh, you’re awake, perfect.”_

_“Who...Who are you? What’s going on?” He asks. As he climbs out of the cart, he looks around suspiciously. The woman standing in front of him doesn’t look like a threat, but he’s still on guard-- he doesn’t know where he is, after all._

_“I came across you delirious and sick in the woods during my travels,” The woman says, “I...You didn’t say much before you passed out, but you said you were a carpenter looking to travel to Raven’s Roost to hopefully ask for an apprenticeship somewhere in the craftsman corridor. I couldn’t just leave you, so I gave you healing potions and decided to take you here myself, so you don’t get hurt.”_

_“I...I-- What?” Magnus doesn’t remember any of this taking place. He must’ve been really sick to forget something so big._

_“Here, your bag,” The woman reaches into the cart and hands him a full pack, his grandfather’s knife and other weapons hanging from it just like he...remembers. Blinking, Magnus takes it, still unsure of the woman’s intentions. But, as he looks around, he sees a sign for Raven’s Roost as the cart stands on the last stretch of solid land. His eyes widen and his jaw drops in awe at the sight of the city, high in the sky and connected by rope bridges. Fog, or clouds, or-- or something surround the town in the sky and he takes a step forward._

_“I...This is where I’m headed?” He asks. He still doesn’t know why he’s here, but it feels...right. “...Thank you. For-- For getting me here. How can I repay you for taking care of me?”_

_...But when he turns back to the woman, she and her cart are turned around and leaving the way they came._

_Magnus shakes his head, which is still clouded in confusion, but takes his pack and begins to make the trek up one of the rope bridges. As he walks, he looks around and finds a startling scene: The town is nearly empty, even though the sun is high in the sky indicating it’s some time in the afternoon. Signs sporting campaign slogans for some governor Kalen’s re-election litter the front of almost every storefront-- and he can’t even find a sign for a competitor anywhere._

_On the third platform, of Raven’s Roost, Magnus finds an inn and, upon searching his pack, finds he has more than enough gold to stay until he finds a place to live. He gets settled into his room quickly so that he can grab a bite to eat at the tavern next door-- which he does, thankful for the greasy, filling food the establishment provides. He makes idle, pleasant chatter with the owner of the tavern._

_“So, what’s with this Kalen guy? All of the signs and stuff is kinda creepy.” He asks it only half serious, laughter in his voice, but the tavern owner’s smile drops from his face immediately._

_“Son, I know you’re new here, but talkin’ like that so loudly is gonna get you in a lot of trouble with Kalen’s spies.” The tavern owner says, leaning in closer. “Maybe this place ain’t the right fit for you. You ain’t got any roots down yet, you can get out of here before he even knows you’re here. He’ll have someone from the housing department down to talk about taxes and rent come tomorrow morning t’ talk to you. I know Glendale over at the inn, he won’t charge you if you leave before the sun sets.”_

_Magnus frowns at the fear in the tavern owner’s voice, his brows furrowing._

_“That’s...That’s not right. Hey, why’re you so scared of this asshole? Is everyone this scared of this asshole?”_

_“Shh! You’ll get everyone in here killed if you don’t shut up!” The tavern owner hisses. He nods over to a booth near the bar where Magnus is sitting, sees a man with a monocle staring at them with raised eyebrows. Magnus shrinks down, turning his attention back to the tavern owner. “Look...If you really wanna stay here, you should talk with Steve. He an’ his girl are runnin’ something bigger than I can tell ya about, ‘specially with Kalen’s spies hanging around.”_

_Magnus listens closely as the tavern owner gives him directions to a place called Hammer and Tongs over in the craftsman corner, where a man named Steven Waxman and his daughter, Julia, are planning a revolution. Magnus is careful in remembering the information, repeating it over and over in his head until he gets back to his room in the inn and he’s able to write it down._

_He knows he just got to Raven’s Roost, but he isn’t going to let someone scare innocent people into submission. Kalen needs to go down._

_The next morning, Magnus gets up bright and early and makes his way over to the craftsman’s corner. It isn’t hard to find the Hammer and Tongs in the middle of the booming square, and he’s shocked at just how different the attitude is over on this platform. It’s bustling with activity, loud shouts hailing one person or another as people rush around stalls down each street. The Hammer and Tongs is one of few shops without a booth out front, or even a sale’s window for someone to hand out wares from. It’s hard to tell if anyone is home, but as Magnus makes his way through the door he can hear jovial laughter and metalwork in a back room. Magnus walks up to a wooden counter, looking around the front room, and is pleasantly surprised to see hand crafted children’s toys and furniture scattered about, tools and swords hanging from the wall. It-- it feels like...home._

_The laughter dies down somewhat as the two people in the back workshop notice Magnus, and an older man steps through the open workshop door. He smiles at Magnus. “Well, hello there, son!”_

_“Hail and well met! Are you the owner? I was just admiring the woodwork, here,” Magnus says, offering a hand to Steven Waxman, which the older man takes and shakes firmly._

_“I am the owner, yes. Steven Waxman, pleased to meet you.” Steven says, smiling. “I’m glad you like the wares. Are you looking for anything specific today?”_

_“Oh, no, not really! See, I’m new to town, and heard about this place from a tavern owner near the inn I’m staying in. Heard you’re looking for an apprentice.” Magnus replies, using the codeword the tavern owner told him to use. He can see Steven’s face morph from friendly to serious. “Y’see, I’m a bit of a woodsman myself. If you let me use your tools in the back there, I’m sure I could show you some of my handiwork.”_

_“Right...” Steven says, nodding slowly. He motions for Magnus to follow him. “Follow me, son. Jules! Heat up some tea, love, we’ve got a guest.”_

_So, while Magnus whittles a quick wooden duck for Steven, he listens to the plan that the Waxman family is formulating-- a plan they’ve been formulating for three years already, after Steven’s wife, Julia’s mother, died at the hands of Kalen’s tyranny._

_And Magnus is filled with even more rage than before._

_“So...Are you with us?” Steven asks. Magnus gives him a crooked grin._

_“I always was.”_

_So, under the guise of working with Steven as an apprentice, Magnus helps plan. Helps rally. He does learn a lot from Steven as a carpenter, and appreciates what he’s learned, however-- and even moreso, he learns from Julia as well._

_Julia Waxman is...she’s a trusting person by nature, but it takes a long while for her to warm up to Magnus. Even though Magnus is smitten with her as soon as he sees her metalwork, it isn’t until one night, two years after Magnus’ sudden arrival in Raven’s Roost, after an intense planning session with other craftsmen’s corner business owners, that Julia finally sees Magnus’ charm for what it is-- genuine._

_That night, as Magnus leads her to her room above the shop, she stops him and kisses him right then and there._

_The honeymoon phase only lasts two months. Soon after they begin to build a relationship, their plans are pushed into fruition early. One of Kalen’s spies had caught wind of the revolution, and so they have to push things forward._

_The fight is long, and gruesome, but they come out on top. It’s amazing. It’s liberating! Literally!_

_The night after they win, as they’re still healing from the fight, Magnus proposes. He doesn’t think Julia would say yes, but is so, so happy that she does. The wedding is small; in the cool of the night in the back garden of the Waxman home, one of the clerics that helped aid their fight marries them._

_Two years after the revolution, Magnus is getting ready to leave for the carpenter’s convention when Steven comes rushing into the shop-- or, as quickly as he can with his aging body, eyes wide in panic._

_“Magnus! Julia! You need to get the dogs and pack up, you need to get out of here!” He says, panting, as he leans against the counter. Magnus looks up from the list of orders he and Julia have been looking at, rushing around the counter, helping his mentor and father and law sit in a chair._

_“What’s going on, Steven? What do you mean?”_

_“Yeah, dad, what’s going on?” Julia asks, following Magnus around the counter and crouching in front of her father._

_“You need to-- Kalen, he’s-- He’s back, he’s got a group of men coming and they’re gonna bomb the whole town. You need to get going, I’ve been trying to warn people all day, they’re almost here--”_

_“Woah, woah, woah-- What do you mean? Kalen’s coming?” Julia asks. Magnus and Julia make eye contact, concerned-- “We can grab all the weapons in the shop, round up the old troops. We can get him again.”_

_Steven shakes his head vehemently, running a hand through his hair. “No, no, there’s-- they’ve got bombs on the pillars. I’ve tried all morning to try and get them off, but taking them off would be a suicide mission. You need to get out of town, and tell everyone you see on the way out to leave too.”_

_“B-- Wh-- What about you?”_

_“I’m gonna get as many people out before he gets here.” Steven says. “Meet me at the city limits at sundown, alright? Just get packed up and get out of here.”_

_Magnus hesitates a moment before looking up at Julia. She looks hesitant as well, before she nods and turns towards the workshop._

_“Alright, Mags, let’s go.”_

_Magnus stumbles after Julia, following her quickly to their home. They quickly gather the necessities-- records, clothes, some rations, and the dogs-- and set up a cart. As Magnus leads the horses out of town, the rope bridges that take them to solid land sway and creak under the weight of others making their own escape. Many have tears in their eyes, Julia and Magnus included._

_“I feel so...Weak.” Magnus says, looking over the edge of the bridge towards the pillars. He can see blinking red lights, wonders how they missed so many large bombs being placed on them._

_Julia sighs. “Me too. But Dad’s gonna get everyone out, and we’ll figure out where to go from there.”_

_Magnus gives a solemn nod as they continue to cross the bridge. A loud boom startles the horses as they reach the edge of the bridge, and Magnus struggles to keep their cart from toppling over as they make it to solid land just as the bridge collapses. A large portion of the pillar holding Raven’s Roost aloft breaks off, crumbling to the ground, and Julia cries out._

_The sounds of bombs detonating, the fiery destruction, it-- It feels...familiar to Magnus. A familiar, terrifying feeling of dread fills his stomach as fire fills his eyes, and he freezes in place._

_“Mag-- Magnus, I don’t thi-- I don’t think dad’s getting out of this one.”_

_Julia’s choked tears break Magnus from his stupor, and he turns to her, away from the destruction of his home. ~~(Again)~~_

_They both know Steven Waxman is going down with his people._

_“...Yeah. Yeah, I don’t think so either, Jules.”_

_The city of Neverwinter welcomes the townspeople of Raven’s Roost with open arms. The king, or rather the kind’s head councilwoman, promises to bring retribution against Kalen once he’s found, and promises to help the citizens rebuild the Craftsman’s corner._

_Magnus, not wanting to feel so helpless again, joins the Neverwinter royal guard. Julia, tired from the revolution and the loss of her father, takes up odd jobs around the castle, finds herself spending most of her time in the kitchens. In the dead of night, when neither can sleep, they talk about opening another shop in Neverwinter but it just doesn’t feel right._

_Entertaining the idea still helps on sleepless nights._

_-_

_Taako is terrified. He remembers going to sleep on a caravan, buried under layers of blankets, but then his eyes are open and he’s on top of a castle, and-- and there’s a man, toppling over the edge of the tower they stand on, and he’s got his wand aimed at him, what-- Wait--_

_The loud thud of the man’s body hitting the floor shocks Taako back to reality and he collapses, falling to his knees._

_Taako only takes a moment to feel the terror of his situation before he schools himself. This isn’t the first time he’s killed someone. He’s just an elf trying to survive. If he’s in a castle, he must’ve been here to get some cash, or something-- the guy must’ve been a castle guard and hit him with a spell or something to make him forget who he is._

_Alright. Fuck._

_When Taako moves to rush out of the door his head swirls and he almost topples over. He leans against the same wall the man fell over a moment, feeling sick to his stomach._

_Taako doesn’t want to be here when the other castle guards find the body, and so he continues out the door and down the steps. He’s filled with a sense of vertigo as he stumbles down the stairs. Fuck. Why are there so many fucking stairs?_

_The rest of the castle isn’t any better, and it takes much longer than Taako feels comfortable with to escape. He keeps looking behind him, to see if L̵̞̦͒̉̈͗͆͘ư̶̧̧̧̬͙̤̅͆̄́p̷͓̹̽ is behind him, but he’s alone, alone and doesn’t know why that’s so scary because he’s always been alone--_

_He passes the body of the man he’d killed on his way out, and doesn’t look back again._

_There is no news of the killing. He stays in an inn near the edge of Neverwinter, holed up in his room until the coast is clear, but there isn’t any gossip going around about the murder of a palace guard and so he decides to leave before the topic does come up. He doesn’t know where he’s going, or what he’ll do for money since apparently he’d been caught before he could even grab any gold from the castle, but he doesn’t care._

_Two months after the events at the castle, Taako meets Sazed. Sazed is tall, handsome, and charismatic-- he lets Taako stay in his family home for the exchange of household chores-- which, sweet. He hypnotizes the half-elf with his cooking and personality-- he can tell by the way Sazed’s eyes trail over him as he walks through the house, the way he teases and jokes easily with Taako._

_The attention isn’t unwelcome; in fact, when Taako is with Sazed it feels like he’s alive again. For so long, Taako’s felt like something is missing. He’s normally not one to jump into a stranger’s arms, he doesn’t need to, everyone loves him naturally, but-- but he just feels...empty. Lately. It’s nice to be wanted._

_So, after keeping Sazed happy and fed for nearly five months (the longest he’s stayed in place since setting off on his own), Sazed makes a proposal that shocks him:_

_“Hey, y’know...You could make a living making food for people. We should see if we can get you a show.”_

_...And, well, Taako’s never refused an opportunity to make money._

_-_

_Merle falls asleep in a beach chair._

_When he wakes up, he’s in a different beach chair, he could swear the one he’d fallen asleep in was more of an adirondack, not a foldable lawn chair, but he’s woken up in weirder places. He blinks awake to the sound of waves on the sand and the shouts of children somewhere nearby. With a grunt and a “quiet down!” he shifts and goes back to sleep._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment, maybe? Magnus and Julia's part made me tear up whilst writing it.


End file.
